Manchester City 3 FC Twente 2:STEVE McCLAREN insists he is "not in rehab" but, almost a year after his professional nadir, the former England manager is cleverly reinventing himself as an attack-minded continental coach.
Yet if McClaren's team deserve credit for their part in an engrossing evening, Mark Hughes appears incapable of imbuing City with the defensive resilience that characterised his Blackburn side.
The game had barely kicked off when Gelson Fernandes played in Shaun Wright-Phillips, whose cheeky backheel nutmegged a marker before finding Jo. Running on to the Brazilian's return pass, Wright-Phillips shot low beyond Sander Boschker to get McClaren's latest return to England off to an inauspicious start.
However, his FC Twente, arranged in a defence-stretching 4-3-3 formation, were passing the ball around with the confidence of a team standing just two points off the top of the Dutch League.
The familiar figure turned animated and appeared to imbue his players with devilment as a startled Pablo Zabaleta ducked under a high-footed challenge from Eljero Elia. City hesitated, permitting Elia to make the most of his riskily won possession.
Having burnt off Richard Dunne he then proved far too fast for Micah Richards. With the defender trailing in his wake, Elia eluded Joe Hart, courtesy of a shot stroked into the bottom corner.
City's defensive frailties had been horribly highlighted. Stephen Ireland combined with Robinho to superlative effect for their team's second goal.
It began with Ireland teasing his minder, challenging the FC Twente man to commit himself to a tackle before drifting away from him and supplying Robinho with a fine delivery. The Brazilian's first touch was with the outside of his boot and the second lifted the ball on a perfectly curving trajectory towards the top corner.
Robinho then turned creator, his through ball prefacing Benjani, on for the first time this season for Jo, seeing a right-foot shot from outside the area deflected into the bottom corner. City were not too hot at defending that lead and more slapdash defending at a corner from Dunne enabled Robbie Wielaert to head McClaren's men back into things. FC Twente should have forced a draw when Stein Huysegems missed a last-minute sitter.
• Guardian Service
MAN CITY: Hart, Zabaleta, Richards, Dunne, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Fernandes, Vassell (Elano 66), Robinho, Jo (Mwaruwari 59). Subs Not Used: Schmeichel, Onuoha, Ben-Haim, Hamann, Evans. Booked: Zabaleta. Goals: Wright-Phillips 2, Robinho 57, Mwaruwari 62.
FC TWENTE: Boschker, Stam, Wielaert, Franco, Braafheid, Tiote (Janssen 79), Brama (Wellenberg 64), Hersi, Arnautovic (Huysegems 32), Nkufo, Elia. Subs Not Used: Paauwe, Perez, Heubach, Gerritsen. Booked: Elia. Goals: Elia 17, Wielaert 65.
Referee: Nikolai Ivanov(Russia).
