Tag: Highlights

MANCHESTER CITY TO FACE ARSENAL IN FA CUP SEMI

The FA cup semi final draw is out. Manchester City are set to play Arsenal while Chelsea would face Tottenham Hotspurs in the last four.

The dates for the games are 22nd and 23rd of next month. It would be Arsenal’s record 29th FA Cup semi final but they face a tough clash against Pep Guardiola’s men.

Chelsea fought Manchester United en route to making the last four of the tournament, defeating them 1-0 courtesy of N’Golo Kante. Spurs thrashed Milwall 6-0 on Sunday to set-up the meeting against the Premier League leaders.

Arsenal – champions in 2014 and 2015 – completed a 5-0 rout over non-League giant killers Lincoln City at the Emirates on Saturday. Manchester City would be in the semi final of the tournament for the first time in four years. They defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 to qualify.
Chelsea legend Frank Lampard says the clash would be an interesting one, since Spurs have been a source of worry for the Blues this term. Continue reading MANCHESTER CITY TO FACE ARSENAL IN FA CUP SEMI

Guardiola Promises to Treat EFL Cup Clash with United As a Final

In the past, the EFL Cup – or the League Cup as it is widely known – was not treated with a lot of importance by managers of top clubs.


The competition was seen as not worthy of the time and effort, but this attitude has certainly changed in the last couple of years. José Mourinho is probably the first manager to consider the League Cup seriously. The Portuguese saw this as a great opportunity to infuse confidence within the team, as the title is handed out midway through the season.

Manchester City certainly have bigger things on their mind, but manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that he will be treating the upcoming EFL Cup game against Manchester United like a final. Guardiola managed a win at Old Trafford in the league a few weeks back. A repeat of the same would put City in the last eight of the competition. Acknowledging the number of games his team has played in the last few weeks, Guardiola says that he will rotate his squad for the game at Old Trafford. Continue reading Guardiola Promises to Treat EFL Cup Clash with United As a Final

Pep Guardiola Places Barcelona as the Best Yet

Manchester City have once again been given a very tough draw as far as the Champions League is concerned.


The blues have been drawn against Barcelona for yet another campaign. In the past, they have struggled to get the better against the Spanish club largely because of the huge gulf in quality. After the arrival of former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, it has been suggested that the English club is now more capable of taking on the illustrious Spanish club. Guardiola, though, has downplayed the English team’s quality as he still believes that Barcelona are the superior team.

Despite having won almost 15 titles with Barcelona, the former club captain believes that Luis Enrique been doing a great job at the Camp Nou. City are now favourites to qualify from the group stages as the runners-up and not as the winners. This would affect them severely when it comes to the draw for the last 16 knockout stages. After having failed to win the Champions League title with Bayern Munich, one of the biggest challenges for Guardiola will be to win the European title with City. The team came close to achieving Europe including last season after featuring in the semi-final against eventual winners Real Madrid.
Continue reading Pep Guardiola Places Barcelona as the Best Yet

Manchester City did not attack Real Madrid enough according to Chris Waddle

Former England player Chris Waddle said that Manchester City respected Real Madrid too much and did not put them under pressure in the second leg of the game.

City was beaten 1-0 in Spain after conceding a goalless draw in the first leg.


Waddle said that Manchester City lacked creativity and attacking intent in Spain and that they could have done much better. He stated that they did not play with any tempo in their game and that it was too easy for Real Madrid. However, he believes that they do not have to be discouraged with the defeat as they are signs that they are progressing.

He added that it is not a humiliation to be beaten by Real Madrid, but it is just the fact that they could have done better. For him, Manchester City was a bit afraid of Real Madrid and forgot how to play their own football. For him, they had nothing to lose in Spain, and they should have attacked from the start of the game. He said that Manchester City had plenty of attacking options in the team, but they were not on display in the game against Madrid. Continue reading Manchester City did not attack Real Madrid enough according to Chris Waddle

Manchester City will be focusing on homegrown talent

Manchester City is currently going through a pre-season tour in the United States as they have already played against Toronto FC and came out on top with a lonely goal from the 20 year old English midfielder George Evans.

Manuel Pellegrini is using this pre-season tour as a chance for the younger players to step up and show their worth in the pitch.

SekoFofana, Jose Angel Pozo, Bersant Celina and George Evans are some of the youth performers that Manuel Pellegrini placed into the pitch during Manchester City’s friendly match against Toronto FC.

However, even with the amount of players that Pellegrini has promoted from the youth academy into the main team, Joe Hart believes that Manchester City will still be active in the transfer market of the upcoming transfer window and one of the priorities will be in signing young British players. Continue reading Manchester City will be focusing on homegrown talent

Louis Van Gaal sees MC in top four Place

Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal says that he sees arch rivals Manchester City being involved in the same top four race as his club are at the moment.

The prospects of United winning the title appeared to vanish a long time ago, but they have managed to close the gap to table leaders Chelsea in recent weeks. More importantly, they are very close to overtaking rivals Manchester City. United enjoyed a 3-0 win over Tottenham this weekend while City suffered yet another shock defeat in the league after losing 1-0 to relegation threatened Burnley.

This was a second league defeat for City in the last three matches, while there could be more waiting in the pipeline if they produce a similar poor performance against Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday. These defeats have reduced their significant advantage in the table. A two-point deficit with more than eight matches remaining has given United a lot of confidence that they can even sneak into the second place, which seemed improbable a few months ago. Van Gaal recently termed the top four race as a rat race and he now says that City are also involved in it even if they do not like it. Continue reading Louis Van Gaal sees MC in top four Place