Hull’s Harry Maguire is dreaming of England, Spurs are better placed than ever to best Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal and Aitor Karanka continues to divide opinionThe Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos In a cartoon history of Arsenal’s ongoing run of springtime top-four escapology acts – the battle, above all, to stay ahead of Spurs – Arsène Wenger would probably be depicted right now wriggling furiously inside a sealed lead trunk, still rattling his padlocks but descending towards the seabed. Tottenham are six points ahead of Arsenal with 11 games to play, to Arsenal’s 12. Tighter spots have been negotiated. But as Spurs beat Everton to take their half of the weekend’s London-Merseyside derby exchange it was hard to avoid...
The Argentinian may see himself in the shop window rather than with a long-term City future but four goals in his last two outings speak for his sharpnessSergio Agüero was able to bask in the rare glow of unstinting praise after helping take Manchester City’s goal haul to 13 in three rounds of the FA Cup and, though the opposition was only Championship-level and it is always in a manager’s interests to emphasise the positives rather than dwell on the negatives, Pep Guardiola seemed to be winning another battle. Related: Sergio Agüero set for showdown June talks on future with Manchester City Related: Sunderland v Manchester City: match preview Continue reading...
Manchester City are moving in the right direction but Chelsea run counter to the assumption that Champions League arrivistes can’t quickly break into the cartelThey say history is written by the winners, but what they don’t always tell you is that records and statistics can also come to the rescue of the less successful.Both Arsène Wenger and Pep Guardiola have been on the defensive over the past few days, pointing out that their clubs are relative ingenues in Europe and not to be compared with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United. “It is not like Arsenal won the European Cup five times before I arrived,” Wenger said, appealing for a measure of perspective after the disappointing 5-1 defeat at...
It was raining goals in Manchester on Tuesday but where does City’s 5-3 win over Monaco stand alongside other great Champions League nights?Dynamo Kyiv’s wonderful team of the late 1990s deserved a Champions League final – but on a pulsating night at a packed Olympiyskiy they threw away the best chance they would ever have. It was exquisite fare for much of the evening and, when Andriy Shevchenko squeezed in his second goal of the night two minutes before half-time, seemed to be going precisely as the old master Valeriy Lobanovskiy had designed. Moments later Michael Tarnat’s daisycutter of a free-kick restored some doubt but Vitaliy Kosovskiy’s 50th-minute goal – capitalising on some sloppy defending – suggested Dynamo would cut...
There was brilliance on show but some fans were left stranded outside the stadium at kick-off, plus Falcao returned to Manchester a different player Related: Sergio Agüero helps Manchester City pull it out of the fire against Monaco Continue reading...