MANCHESTER, England — The Premier League title race, which had been written off in some quarters as a walkover after Chelsea’s blistering start to the season, was blown wide open on Saturday after Manchester City beat Everton to capitalise on the West Londoners' defeat at Newcastle earlier in the day.
With Arsenal and Liverpool also dropping points, it was a poor day for City’s rivals. However, an injury to Sergio Aguero, who left the field visibly in distress, soured the mood at the Etihad.
Aguero sustained knee ligament damage which is yet to be assessed, but he will almost certainly miss the midweek trip to Rome in the Champions League, with a longer layoff highly likely.
He has been the club’s best player this season, scoring 19 goals in all competitions, and his absence, along with Yaya Toure, who is suspended, and the doubts hanging over David Silva, Stevan Jovetic and Vincent Kompany, means City are likely to play in Rome bereft of a raft of stars.
They proved in this game, though; they can win without some of their star men.Their 1-0 win over Everton was scrappy—a clear drop in quality from their previous two matches, where they had destroyed Southampton and Sunderland and played with a pace and verve previously absent this season—but it demonstrated City’s battling qualities in the face of adversity.
It was a somewhat disjointed affair lacking in quality, but the win was by far the most important thing, with Chelsea’s lead now cut to three points after their invincibility dissipated at St James’ Park.
Toure scored the winner from the penalty spot after the excellent James Milner has been upended inside the box by Everton captain Phil Jagielka. The Ivorian dispatched it effortlessly to Tim Howard’s right and settled the tension which had built up after the blow of losing Aguero.
It was hardly a stonewall penalty, but Milner got their first and was caught clumsily by Jagielka, much to Roberto Martinez’s dismay.
In the absence of your best players, it’s important for others to stand up and take on extra responsibility. With Aguero off the field, Samir Nasri did just that, clearly aware his seniority was important in support of Jose Angel Pozo, the young City forward who had replaced the Argentine.
He displayed his very best qualities: technical skill and an ability to keep possession, a commendable work-rate and an ability to find space and pick passes. He was superb and will need to produce something similar in Rome.
Elsewhere, Milner’s drive was key, as was Toure, who continues to improve after a difficult start to the campaign. This was far from a vintage display, but City ground out three points right when they needed them and have now won their last five in all competitions.
Fernando, too, put in one of his best performances since the opening weeks of the season, making a series of timely interceptions and challenges. One moment of madness where he kicked Gareth Barry in the head was punished only by a yellow card—a lucky escape by all accounts—but his influence increased as the match wore on and he gave protection to City’s back four.
Joe Hart pulled off a superb one-handed save from Romelu Lukaku in the closing stages to preserve City’s lead and further underline his improvement in recent months, as City, a little unconvincingly, clung on for the win. Given the circumstances, though, it was a fine three points.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2291513-man-city-lose-sergio-aguero-to-injury-but-kickstart-title-race-with-everton-win
No comments:
Post a Comment