The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Dzeko head man as Pellegrini celebrates maiden victory
MANUEL PELLEGRINI celebrated his maiden win as Manchester City manager thanks to Edin Dzeko’s first-half header against South China.
Dzeko nodded in a James Milner cross in the 21st minute of the Barclays Asia Trophy match at Hong Kong Stadium to secure City’s passage into the tournament’s final on Saturday.
There they will meet Sunderland, who earlier overcame Tottenham 3-1 at the same ground.
Due to bad weather, that game started later than scheduled and was reduced to 40 minutes per half, a format then also adopted for the City contest.
Former captain Stiliyan Petrov has backed Aston Villa to enjoy a successful season in the Barclays Premier League now that Christian Benteke has pledged to stay at Villa Park.
The 22-year-old handed the Midlands club a major boost when he withdrew a transfer request and agreed a new deal until 2017.
The striker netted 19 goals as Villa escaped the drop last term and Petrov believes Benteke could make all the difference in the coming campaign.
He said:“It’s a big boost. The way he performed last season, the way he played, if Villa had lost him, they would probably be in bigger trouble. Keeping him is just great. All the fans, the players, the manager, everybody is happy that Christian is staying at the club.
“He has s h ow n unbelievable potential. He is still a young boy and he still has a lot to learn.
“But, if he plays the way he played last season, Villa will finish very, very high this season.”
Two goals in 11 second-half minutes gave Schalke a 2-0 win over Southampton in their preseason friendly match in Austria.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar gave the Bundesliga side the lead in the 58th minute when he netted on the rebound after a shot by substitute Christian Clemens had been saved by Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis.
And it was another substitute, Joel Matip, who doubled the lead in the 69th minute at the Stadion Villach Lind.
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola got one over on his former club Barcelona by overseeing a 2-0 friendly victory in Munich last night.
Philipp Lahm opened the scoring in the 14th minute and added a second in the 87th minute courtesy of Mario Mandzukic.