The Carabao Cup is safely stored and City are 20 games away from a clean sweep and footballing nirvana It is probably fair to say Manchester City’s in-house team made the fawning soft-focus documentary All or Nothing a year too soon. “Guys we are so close!” That was your catchphrase. Except, they weren’t really.City won the Premier League by a mile last year thanks to a run of sustained sublime form. But otherwise their season lost its dramatic tension on 4 April when City were eviscerated by Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-final first leg, shrinking the scope of their ambitions to that near-perfect league season. Fast forward 10 months and Sunday’s slow-burn victory in the Carabao Cup final has...
The incident in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final was regrettable for so many reasons and Maurizio Sarri was not the only person to look on in disbeliefJust two weeks ago we were mourning the death of England’s greatest goalkeeper, a man who did his job without fuss. It would be presumptuous to guess the reaction of Gordon Banks, were he still alive, to the behaviour of Kepa Arrizabalaga in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday but it’s hard to imagine any footballer of his generation not being appalled by the young Basque’s display of insubordination, for which he belatedly apologised on Monday evening.It is not just the orientation of the Wembley pitch from north-south to east-west that has been radically modified...
Luke Shaw played a blinder but can still improve, Eden Hazard remains central to Chelsea and Deulofeu is coming of ageLuke Shaw’s display at Old Trafford was his best for Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, according to the interim manager. To see Mohamed Salah replaced on 79 minutes was all the evidence required. Solskjær said: “[When] they take Mohamed Salah off you know Luke Shaw has played a good game.” The left-back was a blur of defensive obstinacy. Solskjær said Salah’s threat meant Shaw could not attack as much as desired and this is understandable given the forward’s quality. But the prevailing caveat regarding Shaw’s contribution in most games is that he does not create enough when roving forward....
Refusal of keeper to be substituted near end of extra time undermined manager’s good work in League Cup finalAt times during his winter dissolve on the Chelsea touchline Maurizio Sarri has had something of the tracksuit-clad King Lear about him, striding his chalk square, whipped by the to-and-fro conflicting winds, raging at ingratitude and insubordination. By the end of this Carabao Cup final he had been transformed into something else, something more terminal; had become instead the fool. Related: Sarri and Kepa try to play down substitution ‘misunderstanding’ 'Poor Sarri. This really was the final, and very public, indignity'Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport Related: Manchester City win Carabao Cup on penalties after Chelsea’s Kepa chaos Continue reading...
Manchester City’s comeback was sealed exuberantly enough to postpone some awkward Champions League questionsPerhaps, if Pep Guardiola learned anything from a chaotic night in Germany’s industrial heartland, it was that you cannot keep a good narrative down. Leroy Sané had been left on the bench for his return to the Veltins Arena and, aside from any tactical considerations, it did not seem an unreasonable decision given the imperative that Manchester City went about their business quietly and clinically. Then he set off a rocket and, given the quandary his team had landed themselves in by that point, cool logic could wait for another day. Related: Raheem Sterling gives Manchester City crucial advantage over Schalke Related: Pep Guardiola happy with Manchester...