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| Manchester City vs. Charlton |
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Full Time
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H/T: 0:0 | F/T: 0:0
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CITY 4-0 Charlton Athletic
Kevin Keegan got the response he wanted from his Manchester City team when the first victory of the season was secured, beating Charlton 4-0.
It was a comfortable one at that with two goals from Nicolas Anelka leaving the supporters in good voice.
City boss Keegan admitted in his programme notes that their form had been "poor" after two defeats in the previous three games.
"We have already got a battle on our hands. This is a big game for us," he said.
But Keegan should not have worried - Charlton were poor, and their defence was in disarray.
Trevor Sinclair marked his recall with a goal and Shaun Wright-Phillips was also on target as Charlton crumbled.
City won the majority of possession from the off, especially in midfield.
And there was a buzz of anticipation around the stadium every time young England star Wright-Phillips was on the ball.
Charlton had good reason to be cautious in the opening stages with a 4-1 defeat on the opening day at Bolton still fresh in their minds and City went ahead in the 13th minute after some sloppy defending by the visitors.
Danny Mills delivered a cross from the right and Robbie Fowler sold a superb dummy to give Anelka room to manoeuvre.
The French striker took full advantage to strike a shot sweetly beyond Dean Kiely and into the corner. It was his second goal of the season - he had earlier found the target against Liverpool.
Richard Dunne, however, was forced to mop up at the back after Claudio Reyna had carelessly lost possession to Jeffers.
Danny Murphy was then off-target from a good position for Charlton before Anelka slid a shot narrowly wide of the post.
Fowler should have added a second in the 24th minute but skied a shot over the top from six yards after good work by Mills and Anelka.
Fowler had spoken about his lack of confidence on the eve of the game and it was clear he was struggling to find his touch. However, on the credit side, he was a more than willing worker alongside Anelka.
Charlton were relying on counter-attacks but went 2-0 down after 34 minutes following another dreadful defensive blunder.
Kiely and defender Luke Young got themselves into the kind of tangle you normally see in a Sunday league game. While they were debating on who should clear, Sinclair nipped in for the kind of goal that will haunt the two players for years.
City fans took great delight at taunting Kiely, but Young was equally culpable.
Mills was getting a lot of room on the right and tried to release Barton but the midfield had strayed offside.
Charlton broke away and Kevin Lisbie tried to cut the ball across the face of the goal, only for Sylvain Distin to make a timely block.
Sinclair almost got a third on the stroke of half-time but Kiely managed to tip away his lob.
City began the second half brightly and Barton rattled in a shot after being released by Anelka that tested Kiely.
However, Charlton almost pulled a goal back after 50 minutes when Jeffers lost his marker in the area.
He clipped in a header but England goalkeeper James reacted instinctively to turn his effort around the post.
It was the first clear chance which fell to Jeffers and sounded a warning shot to City that there was still work to be done.
Anelka, Fowler and Wright-Phillips were being deprived of service at the start of the second half as the visitors tried to save face.
However they suddenly broke out of their slumber on the hour to grab a glorious third goal. Wright-Phillips split the defence with a great through-ball and Anelka latched on to it. He raced on and showed enough composure to steer a shot beyond Kiely for his second of the game.
That gave City a good cushion going into the final stages of the game but the crowd were anxious for more.
Charlton were beginning to look dispirited and Curbishley made three changes in the 65th minute. Radostin Kishishev, Dennis Rommedahl and Jonathan Fortune were replaced by Talal El Karkouri, Jonatan Johansson and Paul Konchesky.
But they were left with a mountain to climb, especially with Anelka full of running and full of confidence. Barton was taken off and replaced by Steve McManaman after a solid shift in the middle of the park.
City were playing with plenty of confidence and Wright-Phillips added a fourth goal in the 79th minute.
Again Charlton were slow to react when McManaman played the ball across the face of the area to Anelka. Unchallenged he laid it back into the path of Wright-Phillips, who delivered a shot high into the roof of the net.
Keegan determined to keep Anelka
Kevin Keegan will resist any attempts to prise Nicolas Anelka away from Manchester City - even if the bidding reaches £20million.
Monaco have been attempting to secure the services of the 25-year-old Frenchman before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.
But Keegan is refusing to budge, especially after Anelka's two-goal salvo in the 4-0 defeat of Charlton today.
'If someone came in with £20million it might be difficult but I would tell them (the board) to resist it,' said the City boss.
'We have a small squad here. I would not be able to replace a player of his calibre.
'Even if I had a month to work in, I couldn't do it and we are now only two days away from the transfer window closing.
'He underlined today what an important player he is for us.
'Despite the fact we know other teams want him, we won't let him go away from here.
'Monaco came and tried to convince us. Nicolas' advisors thought it would be a good idea to move there and play Champions League football.
'(They said) they (Monaco) have not got any money but we should give him to them to do that. I am still trying to work out why that was good for us.'
Anelka scored 24 goals last season and helped steer City to their first victory of the season after two defeats in three games.
Keegan said: 'Even when Nicolas is 60% of what he can be, he is a threat. The days when he is 100% he is almost unplayable and today he was near that.
'Every time he got the ball he never gave it away. Every time he got on it, you felt something was going to happen.
'Of course a couple of times he did. He's got two very good goals and they were not easy chances.
'His first goal was important because he got our heads in front, which every team needs at home.
'We have got to give these fans a season to remember. We are capable of doing that.'
Keegan has admitted he is running out of time in an attempt to bring another striker following Paulo Wanchope's departure to Malaga.
'The danger is you bring in what's available without thinking it is going to improve you in any way,' said the City boss.
'We have three excellent front-line strikers in Nicolas Anelka, Robbie Fowler and Jon Macken.
'Then we have got Antoine Sibierski, Trevor Sinclair and Shaun Wright-Phillips who can play anywhere but goalkeeper and centre-half.'
Sinclair and Wright-Phillips were also on target against a Charlton side, who continually shot themselves in the foot.
Wright-Phillips is expected to be named in the England squad tomorrow but could miss the opening World Cup qualifier against Austria because of a back problem.
Keegan said: 'He is looking doubtful for the first of England's two games.'
Charlton manager Alan Curbishley said: 'I am as shocked as I was after the Bolton game (they lost 4-1). We were a soft touch.
'Goals change games and I would like to see Anelka's first again. He has been allowed to turn on the edge of the box and line his shot up.
'The same characteristics as there were in the Bolton game were there again. You can't keep coming in at 2-0 down at half-time and hope to win away.
'The last two away performances have left me with a lot of thinking to do and how we are going to turn things around.'
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