Argentinian can reach 200 goals for the club on Thursday at Arsenal and has proved his worth to Pep Guardiola this season as he has to all his managers in his seven years in ManchesterOn Thursday night at the Emirates Stadium Sergio Agüero has the chance to score his 200th goal for Manchester City, and if the Arsenal defenders play like they did in the Carabao Cup final he probably will. Despite being on the short side for a centre-forward – it always comes as a slight surprise to be reminded that the Argentina striker is only 5ft 8in – Agüero bullies defences like few others and the showpiece at Wembley on Sunday was as good an example as any. Related:...
City’s manager fails to learn from Tottenham’s experience at Rochdale and his weakened team paid a hefty priceManchester City had already done their bit for the romance of the FA Cup by losing to Wigan twice in the last few years, first in the 2013 final and then in the quarters a year later. Incredibly this hectic night might eclipse both those upsets.The chances of the underdogs completing a hat-trick looked slim with two divisions separating the sides and City practically crowned champions already, though where there is Claudio Bravo in goal there is always hope and Pep Guardiola sportingly offered Wigan further encouragement by starting with Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker on the bench. Related: Wigan’s Will Grigg...
Roberto Firmino is underrated no longer, Jonjo Shelvey’s calmness is key and Alexandre Lacazette is lacking confidenceThe Recap: sign up for the best of our sport coverageLet’s call it the Denis Irwin rule, the dictum that when a player is described as underrated so often then it’s probably no longer valid to call him underrated. It’s starting to happen to Roberto Firmino, whose all-round excellence for Liverpool has been recognised much more in recent times. The 26-year-old’s range of skills defy stereotypes. His Brazilian flair was evident in his ingenious flick for Mo Salah’s goal at St Mary’s, Liverpool’s second in a routine victory, and he has a resting heart-rate when all is manic in the opposition penalty area. Yet...
From Juventus and Spurs’ intriguing battle to Chelsea’s forbidding meeting with Barcelona and a likely stroll for Bayern, we look over all eight last-16 matchupsTuesday, St Jakob-Park and Wednesday 7 March, Etihad Related: New era edges closer as Tottenham seek to draw a line under austerity years | David Hytner Related: Antonio Conte will not resign as pressure builds on Chelsea manager Continue reading...
Sam Allardyce looks to next season, Swansea find belief under Carlos Carvalhal and Liverpool’s defence worthy of praiseGet The Recap, the best of the Guardian’s sport coverageLiverpool’s oft-maligned defence deserved a little credit here. For almost the entire game they kept Spurs at bay, with Dejan Lovren and Virgil van Dijk making important blocks and Loris Karius looking a decisive shot‑stopper. Perhaps Liverpool could have been slightly quicker to close down Victor Wanyama when the Spurs substitute equalised but when Karius stood tall to deny Harry Kane from the penalty spot it appeared the home side had answered most of the criticisms of their defensive solidity. When Mohamed Salah scored at the other end in the 91st minute Anfield was...