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Tag: Man City

  • Aguero scores hat-trick as Man City thrash Huddersfield

    Sergio Aguero scored a superb hat-trick as Manchester City continued their strong start to their Premier League title defence by thrashing Huddersfield at Etihad Stadium.

    Pep Guardiola’s side, who beat Arsenal 2-0 in their opener, lost only once at home all of season and victory never looked in doubt against the Terriers, who have two defeats from their first two matches of the campaign.

    Huddersfield did manage to hold City at bay for 25 minutes but were undone when goalkeeper Ederson superbly picked out Aguero with a pinpoint pass and the striker drew out Terriers keeper Ben Hamer before lifting the ball into the net.

    Gabriel Jesus added a second seven minutes later with a crisp low strike from the edge of the area, before Aguero pounced on a Hamer error to stab in his second soon after.

    Jon Gorenc Stankovic gave the visitors the slightest glimmer of hope before half time when he poked in from Steve Mounie’s flick-on, but any optimism was snuffed out early in the second half by a brilliant free-kick from David Silva.

    Aguero then wrapped up his hat-trick with a smart flick from Benjamin Mendy’s cross – before a Terence Kongolo own goal sealed an emphatic win for an impressive City.

    Guardiola’s side are top of the table and have scored eight goals in two games, conceding just one. Huddersfield, meanwhile, drop to the bottom of the standings on goal difference.

    BBC

  • EPL: Man City begin title defence with win at Arsenal

    EPL: Man City begin title defence with win at Arsenal

    Manchester City got their Premier League title defence off to a winning start with a deserved victory over an Arsenal side playing their first competitive game without Arsene Wenger since 1996.

    Raheem Sterling put City ahead in the 14th minute when he got the ball on the corner of the box, cut beyond two players and rifled home from 20 yards.

    Riyad Mahrez went close to scoring on his league debut for City when his free-kick was saved by Petr Cech, who denied Aymeric Laporte from the follow-up.

    It was always going to be a tough first game for Unai Emery at Arsenal and they had few clear-cut chances – with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and substitute Alexandre Lacazette shooting wide from outside the box.

    City were brilliant in parts – and controlled in others – and killed off the game when Benjamin Mendy, who assisted both goals, pulled the ball back for Bernardo Silva to blast in a second.

    BBC

  • Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus extends deal at Man City

    Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus extends deal at Man City

    Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus has signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2023.

    Jesus, 21, arrived at Etihad Stadium from Brazilian club Palmeiras for £27m in January 2017 and scored seven goals in 11 games in his debut season.

    He netted 17 goals as City won the Premier League and the Carabao Cup last term.

    He started every game as Brazil reached this summer’s World Cup quarter-finals, where they lost to Belgium.

    Jesus has struggled with injury at City, breaking a metatarsal in his foot and suffering a knee injury.

    He has described joining the club as the “best decision I’ve made in my life”.

    Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain added: “Gabriel is undoubtedly one of the best young forwards in world football.”

    City face last season’s FA Cup winners Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.

  • Premier League champions Man City close to signing Mahrez, Jorginho

    Premier League champions, Manchester City are closing in on the double signing of Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez and Napoli midfielder Jorginho, with both deals possibly to be completed by the end of next week.

    Mahrez will cost around £60m with Jorginho’s fee anticipated to be £42m.

    In January, City walked away from a potential deal for Mahrez because they were put off by Leicester’s valuation.

    It sparked a dispute between the 27-year-old and Leicester, with the player handing in a transfer request.

    Algerian Mahrez joined from French side Le Havre in 2014 and has scored 48 goals in 179 appearances for the Foxes.

    He was named PFA Players’ Player of the Year as Leicester won the Premier League in 2016.

    Italy international Jorginho, 26, signed for Napoli in 2014 and made 36 appearances for the Serie A side last season, scoring against City in the Champions League in November.

    Both players will be absent from this summer’s World Cup after their nations failed to qualify for the tournament in Russia.

  • Man City, Barca kicked out of UEFA’s Champions League

    In one night, Manchester United and Barcelona FC have both been shockingly kicked out of the UEFA’s Champions League game.

    Barcelona FC was 90 minutes away from a return to the Champions League semifinals, but if failed to finish off Roma and is shockingly on the outside looking in for Europe’s final four.

    Edin Dzeko, Daniele De Rossi and Kostas Manolas scored, while Roma neutralized Lionel Messi and advanced to the Champions League semifinals on the away goal tiebreaker after a 3-0 win on the day and a 4-4 aggregate draw.

    Barcelona carried a 4-1 edge into the second leg of their quarterfinal, thanks to two Roma own goals and strikes from Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez. But Roma was given a brief lifeline from Dzeko, whose away goal proved valuable in factoring into the result.

    Dzeko was the one to kick-start Roma’s comeback attempts. After Barcelona carved out a pair of early chances, Dzeko brought Roma within 4-2 on aggregate with a classy finish in the sixth minute, restoring hope in the Italian capital.

    The goal came moments later, though. Manolas, whose own goal helped contribute to the deficit, scored off a glancing header on a corner kick, making it 3-0 on the day and putting Roma ahead via the away goal tiebreaker.

    Daniele De Rossi did the honors from the penalty spot, firing a blast by ter Stegen, making it 4-3 Barcelona on aggregate. With the away goal from the first leg, Roma just needs one more to shockingly send Barcelona tumbling out of the competition.

    Man City vs Liverpool

    Liverpool reached their first Champions League semi-final for 10 years after coming from behind to win at Manchester City and secure a 5-1 aggregate win.

    City made the perfect start as they tried to reel in a 3-0 deficit from the first leg when Raheem Sterling set up Gabriel Jesus for a cool finish after only two minutes – but they never recovered from a contentious incident just before half-time that saw manager Pep Guardiola sent off.

    Bernardo Silva had struck the post and with Liverpool under intense pressure, Leroy Sane scrambled home what City thought was a crucial second.

    The goal was ruled out for offside even though the ball appeared to come off Liverpool’s James Milner and G.uardiola marched on to the pitch in an explosion of fury to remonstrate with referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz. The outburst saw him forced to watch the second half from the stands.

    With Guardiola away from his technical area, City lost momentum and the visitors delivered the killer blow of the away goal when, inevitably, Mohamed Salah chipped in his 39th goal of the season after a powerful run by Sadio Mane in the 56th minute.

    Roberto Firmino’s classy finish 13 minutes from time completed the formalities and Liverpool will now have their sights set on a sixth triumph in Europe’s elite competition.

    The Reds will discover their semi-final opponents when the draw is made on Friday.

     

  • Chelsea manager, Conte defends his tactics during City defeat

    Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has defended the use of his tactics in his side’s defeat at Premier League leaders Manchester City.

    The Blues produced a surprisingly negative display and failed to have a shot on target in the match as Bernardo Silva’s goal less than a minute into the second half sealed the game and pushed Manchester City 18 points clear at the top and closer to the title.

    Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville called Chelsea’s display “absolutely unacceptable” and accused Conte’s players of being “mannequins”, while colleague Jamie Redknapp called their approach “anti-football” and “a crime against football”.

    The Italian boss responded: “You have to accept every critic, but I am not so stupid to play against Manchester City open and to lose 3-0 or 4-0.

    “A few days ago, Arsenal played twice against them and then you criticised [Arsenal manager Arsene] Wenger a lot because they conceded three goals in only 30 minutes.

    “The pundit has to use the head to understand when you speak about tactics because I think you must have knowledge to speak about tactics and not only to speak in a stupid way.”

    When asked if Chelsea could have been more ambitious in their play, striker Olivier Giroud, who came on as substitute, said: “It is a good question. The coach made his tactics. We tried to respect it.”

    Pep Guardiola’s side were forced to bide their time before making the breakthrough on Sunday and it came when Silva stole in ahead of Marcos Alonso from David Silva’s cross to beat Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

    Chelsea did not register a single shot on target, leaving Manchester City keeper Ederson a virtual bystander as he was even able to watch Alonso’s timid shot drift wide with seconds left.

    It was a disappointing day for Chelsea and manager Conte – and of even greater concern is that they are now five points adrift of Tottenham in fourth place in the race for spots in next season’s Champions League.

     

    BBC

  • League One Wigan shock Man City in FA Cup tie

    Wigan Athletic ended Manchester City’s hopes of a clean sweep of trophies with a stunning upset in their FA Cup fifth-round tie.

    The League One side survived virtually constant pressure from the Premier League leaders, eventually capitalising on Fabian Delph’s controversial first-half red card when Will Grigg struck 11 minutes from time.

    The striker’s low finish capped a night of drama at the DW Stadium, with City’s Fernandinho wasting a fine chance shortly before Delph was dismissed for a heavy challenge on Max Power.

    The incident led to a heated argument between City boss Pep Guardiola and opposite number Paul Cook in the tunnel at half-time.

    And there were unedifying scenes at full-time, too, with City striker Sergio Aguero involved in an altercation with one of the many home fans who invaded the pitch.

    City threw everything at their hosts both before and after Grigg’s goal – a guided shot from 20 yards – and Danilo’s header was gratefully held by Christian Walton in the game’s final attack.

  • UCL: Guardiola hails Manchester City’s win over Basel as an ‘amazing result’

    Pep Guardiola hailed an “amazing result” after Manchester City beat Basel 4-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

    City raced into a three-goal lead inside 24 minutes thanks to strikes from Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero.

    Gundogan scored again after half-time to put City in a commanding position ahead of the return leg at the Etihad on March 7.

    “The Champions League is 180 minutes, but we are almost there,” said City boss Guardiola. “I’m not saying it’s done, because in football anything can happen, but it’s an amazing result.”We could have been 2-0 down but then we were 0-2 up. We were clinical and I am delighted with the performance.

    “We kept our level, we fought hard and created chances to score. They were four amazing goals. Overall I’m delighted.”

    Guardiola also paid tribute to Gundogan, who might even have claimed a hat-trick had Tomas Vaclik not saved from him in the closing stages.

    “He’s a guy with special qualities,” said Guardiola. “He’s amazing with a good sense of the goal.

    “When I see him play I realise how we missed him last season. He is a special player with a lot of personality. He doesn’t feel pressure, he’s a top player.”

    The emphatic nature of the victory means Guardiola may be able to rest players in the second leg but he is not looking that far ahead yet.First City face Wigan in the FA Cup and Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final, with tricky league games against the Gunners and Chelsea also coming before the Basel return fixture.

    Guardiola said: “That’s so important but we have to be focused and it’s after Chelsea. It’s so important to focus on them and take another step in the Premier League.

    “Vinny (Kompany) is back, Fabian (Delph) is back – a lot of players have come back from long-term injuries. That’s good for everyone and (Gabriel) Jesus and (Benjamin) Mendy are coming back. We’ll have almost the whole squad for this period when we will need everyone involved.”

    Basel coach Raphael Wicky admitted his side were outplayed by a ruthless City side.

    Wicky said: “They were very clinical, scoring three goals in the first half. We started well, we created chances and managed to win balls but, as I said yesterday, we needed a perfect night. We needed to take the opportunities and be
    clinical. But we conceded goals too easily and after we went 3-0 down I think the game was decided.”

  • Man City end pursuit of Arsenal forward, Alexis Sanchez

    Man City end pursuit of Arsenal forward, Alexis Sanchez

    Manchester City have decided not to pursue their interest in signing Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez.The club have decided the cost of pursuing the 29-year-old would be prohibitively expensive.

    Manager Pep Guardiola, the club’s owner Khaldoon al Mubarak and other senior officials are all in agreement.

    It is understood the wages being demanded by Sanchez would have put him ahead of all City’s star men, something the club decided they would not do.

    Manchester United are favourites to sign the Chile international after indicating they are willing to meet the Gunners’ £35m asking price for the forward.

    Sources with knowledge of the situation say they understand Chelsea are also interested in the player.

    They claim the overall package being negotiated is higher than the £60m for which Arsenal agreed to sell Sanchez to City in the summer.

    City still believe Sanchez would prefer to join them, given his past relationship with Guardiola and the fact he pushed to join them in the summer.

    However, they view it as highly unlikely Sanchez will drop his financial demands to a level that would allow them to resume talks.

    ‘If he moves we have a chance’

    Speaking after his side’s 3-0 victory over Stoke on Monday night, United manager Jose Mourinho said: “There is no news on Sanchez. He is an Arsenal player; if he stays it’s great for Arsenal, if he comes to us, great for us, if he goes to another club, great for them.

    “There are probably other clubs also interested and trying and I shouldn’t talk about a player who is an Arsenal player.

    “I am not confident but also not unconfident. If he stays it’s great for Arsenal, if he comes to us, great for us, if he goes to another club, great for them.

    “If he moves I think we have a chance.”

    BBC Sports

     

  • Liverpool, without Coutinho, out to halt Man City march

    The form table suggests Liverpool have realistic hopes of disrupting Manchester City’s waltz towards the Premier League title when they meet on Sunday, although they must quickly learn how to cope without Philippe Coutinho.

    The Brazilian playmaker completed a 142 million-pound ($192 million) move to Barcelona on Monday, meaning Juergen Klopp’s “fab four” up front is now just a three.

    Unbeaten City are 15 points clear at the top of the table, having scored more goals than anybody with 64, but fourth-placed Liverpool come second on that count with 50.

    Klopp’s side are unbeaten in 17 games in all competitions since they were thrashed 4-1 by Tottenham on Oct. 22.

    Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah is set to return from injury and he and Sadio Mane are likely to play either side of striker Roberto Firmino.

    Although Coutinho will no longer be able to provide the trio with ammunition, they still have the speed and guile to trouble Pep Guardiola’s side at the back.

    Former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer believes the Reds can get at City’s defense.

    “We know Manchester City’s quality, we know that they’re running away with (the league) at the minute, but I think, on their day, Liverpool can match anybody,” McAteer told the Liverpool website.

    “They’re so good going forward. You’ve got to be (wary) of the attacking prowess that they’ve got, but there are areas of weakness.

    “If you can get in between the lines and at the two centre-halves, which I feel we can, then there are chances and goals there.”

    City, however, will look to repeat their dominant 5-0 victory over Liverpool at the Etihad in September, although they will be without injured striker Gabriel Jesus, who scored a brace that day.

    This time they will have Virgil van Dijk in their way with the Liverpool defender set to make his Premier League debut after his move from Southampton.

    Van Dijk enjoyed a dramatic debut for his new team in the FA Cup, scoring late on against Everton to earn Liverpool a derby victory.

    City’s Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne said his team would just focus on their own performance.

    “We go there to win the game, “he said.

    “They will have a very strong team and they want to be there for the Champions League (places).

    “We just try to do the things that we do well and then we will see what happens.”

    Second-placed Manchester United host Stoke City on Monday, the visitors currently without a coach after sacking Mark Hughes following their FA Cup defeat by League Two Coventry City.

    Coach Eddie Niedzwiecki is in temporary charge of the team for the trip to Old Trafford, with Jose Mourinho’s side anxious to keep ahead of the chasing pack behind Manchester City.

    The Portuguese has been embroiled in a war of words with Chelsea coach Antonio Conte, whose side host Leicester City on Saturday, when a victory would see them provisionally move above United into second.

    Tottenham host Everton on Saturday and Arsenal travel to Bournemouth on Sunday.

    Crystal Palace face Burnley, Huddersfield meet West Ham United and Newcastle United entertain Swansea City in other weekend matches.