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Tag: Manchester City

  • Man City keen to rival Chelsea for Ake

    Manchester City are interested in a January deal for Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake – despite a contract clause seemingly putting Chelsea in pole position to bring him back to Stamford Bridge.

    The West London club inserted a £40m buy-back clause into the centre-back’s £20m deal to Bournemouth in 2017, and they are now understood to want Ake back after their FIFA transfer ban was lifted.

    But City are also understood to want to sign Ake if they can next month, having failed to replace Vincent Kompany in the summer and suffered as a result of the long-term injury to Aymeric Laporte.

    Read:OFFICIAL: Man City loan out Ghana winger Thomas Agyepong to Belgian side Waasland Beveren

    Manager Pep Guardiola recently insisted they “cannot” sign anyone due to the difficulties of the winter window, and that he “does not want” anyone either, having adapted Fernandinho to centre-back.

    But the Spaniard also conceded that “when an incredible opportunity comes in January for the next four or five or six years, maybe we can think about it”.

    At 24, the already established Netherlands international Ake is seen as a future star by a host of top clubs, including Tottenham and Everton, having developed well under Eddie Howe on the south coast.

    Read:Chelsea and Arsenal keeping tabs on Anderlecht Ghanaian kid Jeremy Doku

    But City and Chelea could find themselves in the running for an injured player, with Ake soon set to find out the results of a scan on a hamstring problem picked up at the weekend.

    Earlier this season, Chelsea scout Piet de Visser urged the club to re-sign Ake in an interview with a Dutch newspaper, stating “I hope they buy him back. That boy is perfect for them and he has played with (manager Frank) Lampard.”

    Ake came through the same Chelsea youth academy that developed players now thriving under Lampard including the Premier League’s second-highest scorer Tammy Abraham, centre-back Fikayo Tomori and midfielder Mason Mount.

    Read:Bayern Munich target Hudson-Odoi set to ink five year deal with Chelsea

    But despite their growth under Lampard, Chelsea are still keen to sign new players in January, having been banned from doing so in the summer, and Sky Sports News has already reported they have been tracking the CSKA Moscow striker Fedor Chalov, of whom owner Roman Abramovich is a big fan.

    City, meanwhile, have also been considering the two centre-backs starring in Leicester’s resurgence this season – Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans, whom they previously tried to sign from West Brom in 2017.

    Source: skysports.com

  • Jesus double fires Man City to victory

    Gabriel Jesus struck twice to get Manchester City back to winning ways and back up to second in the Premier League with a 4-1 victory at Burnley on Tuesday night.

    City – who fell further away from runaway leaders Liverpool at the weekend – closed back to within eight points of Jurgen Klopp’s side in the table ahead of the Merseyside derby on Wednesday night.

    Jesus, in again for the injured Sergio Aguero, netted his third and fourth Premier League goals of the season either side of half-time, breaking his eight-game barren run for City.

    Read:UCL: Keeper chaos sees Walker don gloves as City draw at Atalanta

    Rodri and Riyad Mahrez then capped the win in the second half, to secure a great result for City as they head towards the Manchester derby on Saturday evening – which is live on Sky Sports Premier League. Robbie Brady notched a late consolation for Burnley, which was significant in denying City a clean sheet for an eighth game in a row in all competitions.

    City had the ball in the net after six minutes when Angelino’s shot from range was smartly flicked home by Jesus, but the Brazilian was rightly flagged for offside. When he next found the net after 24 minutes, though, it was the opener and it was brilliant.

    A swift counter-attack was launched by City as Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri combined to find David Silva. He then slipped in Jesus, who cut inside the area from the left and curled an absolute beauty into the side netting past the helpless dive of Nick Pope.

    Read:Man City striker Jesus signs contract extension until 2023

    Pope could do little about that one, but did brilliantly to deny City twice more before half-time. First, after 34 minutes, he stopped Raheem Sterling from close range after De Bruyne’s low cross into the six-yard box. Then, after 43 minutes, he kept out Bernardo Silva’s low drive with his leg after a swift City counter.

    Shortly after the break, however, City did manage to double their lead. It came after 50 minutes as they worked the ball from side to side and found Bernardo, who whipped a fine cross in for Jesus to volley into the roof of the net.

    City’s third after 68 minutes was even more emphatic. Rodri netted just his second goal for the club with a thunderous effort after Ben Mee’s headed clearance dropped kindly into his path.

    Read:Holders Man City cruise into EFL Cup quarter-finals after beating Southampton

    Their fourth was even better as Mahrez grabbed his 50th Premier League goal in trademark fashion, dribbling to the edge of the area before drilling a shot home. Burnley then went up the other end and struck back as another substitute, Robbie Brady, fired into the roof of the net.

    Source: skysports.com

  • Mahrez scores as Man City beat Chelsea

    Premier League champions Manchester City got back to winning ways by coming from behind to beat in-form Chelsea in an entertaining game.

    The visitors, who had won their previous seven away games, led when N’Golo Kante slipped the ball past Ederson from Mateo Kovacic’s aerial pass.

    At that stage City were facing back-to-back Premier League defeats which would have left them 12 points behind leaders Liverpool and given them an uphill task to retain their title.

    Read:Holders Man City cruise into EFL Cup quarter-finals after beating Southampton

    But the hosts rallied and equalised when Kevin de Bruyne’s shot hit Kurt Zouma and wrongfooted goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

    Riyad Mahrez put the reigning champions – who move above Chelsea into third place – ahead with a fine finish after cutting in from the right wing.

    Both sides could have scored more in a chaotic first half, City going closest when Sergio Aguero hit the crossbar after a poor clearance by Kepa.

    There were fewer incidents in the second half although Aguero hobbled off and had to be replaced by Gabriel Jesus, with Pep Guardiola worried it is a bad muscle injury.

    Read:Liverpool beat Man City to go eight clear at top of Premier League

    Raheem Sterling thought he had scored a late third for City but it was ruled out by the video assistant referee in a very tight offside call.

    City only had 46.74% of the ball, the lowest percentage by any Guardiola team in any of his 381 top-flight matches in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich or City.

    They sit nine points behind leaders Liverpool, who beat them 3-1 in the last game before the international break.

    “Chelsea are an incredible team,” Guardiola told BBC Sport after the game. “We knew it, but we beat them.

    “It was a typical high-level game. Our back four played so good today. In the most difficult period of the game, we scored on the counter.

    “We created enough chances to score more goals.”

    Source: bbc.com

  • Financial Fair Play: Manchester City lose appeal to Cas over Uefa investigation

    Manchester City have failed in an initial bid to have the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) halt Uefa’s investigation into a possible breach of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

    City have been referred to Uefa’s financial watchdog, the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) and if found guilty could face a Champions League ban.

    Read:Man City not ready to win Champions League Guardiola

    Cas said City’s appeal was “inadmissible” at this stage because the CFCB has not yet determined what, if any, punishment would be applied if they were found guilty.

    The club, who deny wrongdoing, had argued that Uefa did not have the authority to bring an FFP case against them.

    Uefa launched an investigation after German newspaper Der Spiegel published leaked documents alleging City had inflated the value of a multimillion-pound sponsorship deal, misleading European football’s governing body.

    Read:Liverpool beat Man City to go eight clear at top of Premier League

    Reports alleged City deliberately misled Uefa so they could meet FFP rules requiring clubs to break even.

    The Premier League champions, FA Cup and League Cup winners were fined £49m in 2014 for a previous breach of regulations.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Man City see off Villa to close gap on Liverpool

    Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says his side showed relegation form in the first half of their win over Aston Villa, as they cut Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table to three points.

    City, who are in second place in the Premier League, scored three second-half goals to see off a determined Villa side.

    But Guardiola was unimpressed with the way the defending champions started the game – apart from Raheem Sterling, whom he felt led by example with his attacking play.

    Speaking about his side’s title challenge, Guardiola said: “I am not concerned about the table, I am concerned all the time with how we play.

    Read:Man City not ready to win Champions League Guardiola

    “If we play at the level we did in the second half, we can be there until the end of the season, I am sure of that.

    “But if we play like we did in the first half, we will be relegated or in the relegation positions, far away from leading the table. We did not play the way we should play, and the only player who was aggressive when we had the ball was Raheem.

    “In the second half we imitated him. He showed us the way we wanted to play, and it was much better.”

    Liverpool can restore their six-point advantage if they beat Tottenham on Sunday – although after dropping points last weekend, the Reds go into that game knowing they now have the defending champions breathing down their neck.

    Read:Bernardo Silva: Man City forward charged by FA over Benjamin Mendy tweet

    As Guardiola acknowledged, it did not always look like turning out that way for City, who had to work hard to break down a well-organised Villa side.

    The visitors had largely frustrated City in the first half but their resistance lasted for only 20 seconds after the restart.

    After Villa squandered possession from their own kick-off, Ederson’s long punt forward was flicked on by Gabriel Jesus and into the path of Sterling, who made no mistake.

    Jesus should have made it 2-0 soon afterwards when a mistake by Bjorn Engels left him clean through, but a combination of a Tom Heaton save and a brilliant goal-line clearance by Tyrone Mings denied him.

    Read:Sterling blasts 11-minute treble as Man City run riot

    City had to wait until the 65th minute for their second goal, which confusingly was eventually awarded to David Silva, after a long delay for a VAR decision that had concluded it was Kevin de Bruyne’s goal.

    It was unclear at first glance whether Silva or Sterling, who would have been offside from a Silva touch, had got a deflection on De Bruyne’s wicked curling cross but after a four-minute delay that was met with derision by both sets of fans, it was ruled it had gone straight in and was allowed to stand.

    However, some time after the final whistle, the goal accreditation panel – an independent entity which has no affiliation with VAR – awarded the goal to Silva, who had wheeled away in celebration.

    Nonetheless, Ilkay Gundogan made absolutely sure of the points a few moments later, when Fernandinho’s shot was cleared into his path, and he expertly adjusted his body to put away a fine first-time finish.

    The hosts finished the game with 10 men after Fernandinho was shown a second yellow card.

    Source: www.bbc.com

  • Bernardo Silva: Man City forward charged by FA over Benjamin Mendy tweet

    Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association over a tweet he sent to team-mate Benjamin Mendy.

    Silva compared Mendy to the character on a packet of Conguitos – a sweet brand available in Spain and Portugal.

    The Portugal player, 25, is alleged to have committed an “aggravated breach” of FA rules as it included reference “expressed or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin”.

    Silva has until 9 October to respond.

    Read:I learned from Kyle Walker, Cancelo at Manchester City Jeremie Frimpong

    The post was published at 12:44 BST on 22 September but was deleted at 13:30, although Silva later tweeted: “Can’t even joke with a friend these days.”

    The FA subsequently contacted City for their observations, while Silva has written to the governing body to say he regrets the fact his social media post may have unintentionally caused offence.

    Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out criticised the post and urged the FA to act, adding that “racist stereotypes are never acceptable as ‘banter’”.

    In a statement on Wednesday, the FA said Silva’s activity is alleged to have been “insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute”.

    Read:Manchester United eye move for Ghanaian striker Inaki Williams

    Silva has been repeatedly defended by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who said it would be a “mistake” to punish his playmaker for the tweet.

    England forward Raheem Sterling supported Silva against accusations of racism, saying it was “a situation between two friends”.

    Mendy has also written in support of Silva, saying he did not take offence at the tweet.

    France defender Mendy and Silva are close friends and played together at Monaco before both joined City in 2017.

    A previous video of Silva joking with Mendy has also been passed on to the FA.

    Source: bbc.com