Full-time: City 5-1 Huddersfield
That was a highly entertaining duel from which both sides emerge with credit. City were deserving winners and produced some sparkling attacking play because Huddersfield forced them to.
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GOAL! City 5-1 Huddersfield (Iheanacho 90)
Tanking achieved! It came via a fine flowing move, started by Fernandinho - and finished by Iheanacho from an offside position.
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87 min: Quander blems one over from 10 yards after the ball broke to him in the box!
86 min: “Be fair,” storms Jason. “”I didn’t merely predict a City win, I predicted a tanking (which it now surely is) and implied that Huddersfield should’ve have practiced more real-game-scenarios (i.e. defending) rather than kicks from the penalty spot.” It’s hardly a zero-sum scenario, though, is it? Wagner didn’t say that all his preparation had been devoted to practicing penalties. The way his team has played here is proof that they do a hell of a lot more than that. They’re a proper team, as even their second-string has given City a better game than several Premier League side have done this season.
84 min: Sterling skins his man down the right this time, then steadies himself and fizzes a low pass in to Iheanacho in the box. The Nigerian holds it up well with his back to goal and then plays a cute return ball to Sterling, who had zipped in from the wing to fire a shot at goal. Blocked by Coleman.
82 min: Huddersfield are beaten now, and pretty much bowed. It’s just about avoiding the concession of another goal now.
City substitution: Navas on, Sané off. “Referring to De Bruyne a Flying Dutchman?” blurts Peter Oh. “Did I miss something? Is this just an honest mistake, or just part and parcel of the post-truth world? Not only is De Bruyne not a Dutchman, he also bears an uncanny resemblance to his famous countryman, the Belgian cartoon adventurer Tintin!” It wasn’t me, Peter, it was one of your fellow emailers, whose name I can’t be bothered to go back and check. Let’s call him Cuthbert, as in Calculus.
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City substitution: Iheanacho on, Aguero off.
78 min: Sterling slips on a pair of jetboots to skedaddle to the bye-line and reach a seemingly unreachable pass. He then clips the ball towards the near post ... where no one is awaiting it, because no one thought Sterling would be in any position to deliver a pass.
76 min: City are insatiable. They want to trample their visitors into the ground. Thoroughly admirable bloodlust.
City substitution: Delph on, De Bruyne off. Now that’s what you can all a like-for-like change.
GOAL! City 4-1 Huddersfield (Aguero 73)
City are safe now! Fernandinho helped a cross-field pass on to De Bruyne, who flipped it wide to Sterling on the left. He pinged in a fine low cross, and Aguero did the rest, sweeping the ball into the net from eight yards.
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72 min: Van La Parra makes a strong run down the left and then whacks in a low cross. Smith can’t get on the end of it, however.
70 min: It’s a tribute to how well Huddersfield’s B team have played that Guardiola has not yet felt safe enough to make any substitutions.
Huddersfield substitution: Hogg on, the splendid Billing off.
66 min: A splendid, cutting ball from midfield by De Bruyne. Sterling races around the blind side of Holmes-Dennis to try to get on the end of it, and appears to be shoved by the defender. Move along, nothing to see here, gestures the ref.
64 min: “Am I too late to ask how The Flying Belgian is doing this evening?” asks Rob. No, I think we can answer that within the remaining 26 minutes. Here goes: De Bruyne is playing well. Pulling City’s strings from a central position.
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62 min: De Bruyne curls a freekick over the wall from 25 yards. Easy save for Coleman.
Hudddersfield substitution: Smith on, Lolley off. “Be nice to think that somewhere on the field a Huddersfield player with a finely tuned sense of historical perspective, is whispering in a Mancunian ear ‘You’ll never win three titles in a row though,’ chortles Ian Forth.
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56 min: Cranie sends a long ball over the top for Quaner to chase. The striker does exactly that, and wins the race before veering into the City’s box. As he cuts past Stones the defender catches his foot, sending Quander tumbling to the grass. Penalty? No! Not according to the ref. A case of the forward running into the defender’s foot, rather than an overt foul.
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54 min: After Huddersfield take a short corner, Quaner curls in a low cross. Lolley meets it at the edge of the six-yards box. What a chance! But he nods wide and then puts hits hand to his mouth, presumably to conceal profuse swearing. Profuse swearing being the only sensible reaction to a miss like that.
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Huddersfield substitution: Van La Parra on, Bunn off.
51 min: Quaner robs De Bruyne in midfield and then bounds forward. He tricks his way past one defender and then tries his luck from 20 yards. It deflects over the bar for a corner.
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49 min: Quaner, who’s pretty elusive for a giant, skips past Stones before being illegally felled. Thats a freekick to Huddersfield wide on the left. They float it into the box but Stones nods away, Otamendi clears it farther, all the way to Aguero on half-way. The Argentinian races deep into Huddersfield territory before slipping a nice pass through to Sané, who looks sets to scamper into the box and let fly with a shot ... until he over-runs the ball. He’s been mostly brilliant today, Sané, but that’s the second time he’s lost control of the ball when in an excellent position. Youthful exuberance, I guess.
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47 min: Tricky interplay by Huddersfield down the left ends up with them winning a throw-in near the City corner flag on the left. From there they produce yet more fine play ... until Holmes-Dennis wanders offside.
46 min: Off we go again. “I’m checking in from time to time,” announces Jason [see chat before kick-off]. “That blitz by City has me looking PRETTY smart right about now.” Yep, you were pretty smart to predict a City win and suggest Huddersfield were prats for thinking they could compete.
Speaking of works of art, check this out.
I’ve just been admiring a replay of the Sané shot that hit the post in the opening minutes. It was a sumptuous effort, not entirely dissimilar to Nelinho’s unmatchable oeuvre:
Half-time: City 3-1 Huddersfield
Huddersfield’s second-string have been pretty good, but City have been better. Given their movement, skill and precision, the hosts look set to run away with this unless Huddersfield can do something special in the second half.
43 min: Excellent through-ball by Billing to Payne, who suddenly finds himself one-on-one with Bravo. He tries to curl a low left-footer into the far corner ... but he got his angles wrong and rolls it at Bravo. Who saved!
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40 min: Coleman hares out of his area to head a ball clear. Meanwhile, Lolley and Fernandinho are lying on the ground at the other end of the pitch after hurting each other in a legitimate challenge for the ball. There’ll be a break in play while they receive treatment and Huddersfield try to come up with a way of turning the tide that is in danger of completely overwhelming them now.
GOAL! City 3-1 Huddersfield (Zabaleta 38)
City have moved into overdrive and Huddersfield can’t handle them. Coleman saved Aguero’s first shot but the Argentinian retrieved the ball near the bye-line and played a simple pass to his compatriot at the near post. Zabaleta swept it gratefully into the net from close range.
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37 min: Cranie is hassled by Clichy into losing possession in the right-back area. The balls pops out to Aguero, who scurries into the box and sends a low sidefooted shot past the keeper. But it bounces out of the same post that Sané hit earlier!
GOAL! City 2-1 Huddersfield (Aguero pen 35)
Coleman goes one way, Aguero slots it the other way.
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Penalty to City!
Stankovic is ruled to have pushed over Otamendi as he tried to connect with a cross from Zabaleta.
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GOAL! City 1-1 Huddersfield (Sané 30)
Lovely goal. De Bruyne spanked a long pass from the left over to Sterling on the far side. Homes-Dennis clips it with his hand - inexplicably, and inexplicably missed by the ref - but that doesn’t matter, because Sterling collected it, flashed several lollipops to Holmes-Dennis and then laced in a lovely low cross that Sané tapped home from two yards.
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28 min: Huddersfield have enjoyed a spell of play in the City half. They really are pesky opponents and City are not enjoying the experience of playing them even though they have created several chances. “Why has Pep got one of those coats that you wear so you don’t have to pay for a bag on Ryanair?” wonders Ian.
25 min: Sané starts a searing run deep in his own half and leaves defenders floundering in his wake. As he races towards the box a whole range of possibilities open up for him - he could play in either Aguero or De Bruyne or try to continue his dribble himself - but as he tried to make up his mind he over-ran the ball, enabling Cranie to nick it off him and clear the danger.
23 min: Huddersfield have barely been outside their half in the last seven or eight minutes, and they’re using a hell of a lot of energy as they try to keep City at bay. This match is far from done. “That Wagner has his team running Rings round City,” offers William Hargreaves. “He Tristans them on the counter, when Bunn sees Bravo Isolde dummy to score.” If there are any more of these high-brow Wagner puns, I’m going to ask someone to have a word with you. A real Hart to Hart conversation.
20 min: The pressure is building from City, to the point that Huddersfield are reeling. Cranie has just made a last-ditch block from a shot by Fernandinho. The result is a corner but City players are complaining that they should have had a penalty for another handball.
17 min: City are gifted a chance by a slack pass in midfield. They work it quickly to De Bruyne, who scampers into the box and then uses a sly feint to send one defender sliding away in vain. Then, from six yards out, he does the same again, and this time the ball hits the hand of the sliding defender. City appeal for a penalty by the referee rules that the handball was accidental.
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15 min: De Bruyne fires a wobbly freekick over the wall. Coleman stops it, drops it, and then picks it up. Danger over.
14 min: Freekick to City because Hudson pulled down Aguero to stop him connecting with a return pass from Sterling. A yellow card, too, for the veteran defender. And a shooting chance for De Bruyne, from about 25 yards and a little to the left.
11 min: Huddersfield’s vivacity is annoying City, who are starting to mislay passes under pressure.
@Paul_Doyle Wow. Pep must really really hate Joe Hart. That was as soft a goal as I've ever seen a (cough) top (cough) keeper concede.
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) March 1, 2017
8 min: City started very strongly, plainly keen to put the underdogs in their place early doors. But that goal has shocked them and they’ve lost a little of their swagger. They’re certainly not panicking, however, just trying to knock the ball around a bit to compose their thoughts.
6 min: Wagner punches the air in the stands while thousands of Terriers fans go even wilder in another part of the ground - all celebrating a lovely goal by their team. After they swept down the on the counter-attack, Billing helped the ball through to Bunn with a subtle flick. Bunn took a touch and fired a low shot under Bravo and into the net! That seems to be Bravo’s weakness: shots on target.
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GOAL! City 0-1 Huddersfield (Bunn 6)
Moments after Aguero forces a save at the other end, Huddersfield take the lead with a well-worked counter-attack!
4 min: A tremendous attack by CIty concludes with a brilliant shot by Sané. He received a pass by De Bruyne near the left-hand corner of the Huddersfield box and immediately cracked a viciously swerving shot with the outside of his foot past the keeper ... and out off the far post!
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2 min: Already it is clear that, to no one’s surprise, Huddersfield intend pressing vigorously. They don’t plan to let City have tie on the ball anywhere on the pitch, and that seems a shrewd policy with Stones and Otamendi manning the opposition’s defence.
1 min: Off we go. Huddersfield survive the first minute without City having so much as a shot. Are you watching, Jason?
The players are where they need to be. City are dressed in sky blue kit with the now-familiar darker blue shoulder cladding. Huddersfield are in black and luminous lime stripes, a homage to Wagner’s Dortmund roots.
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Pep has also been quizzed by the BBC and he wasn’t impressed by any of the questions so provided answers that I’ve already forgotten. Sorry about that.
David Wagner has just been speaking to the BBC. Asked whether his team can win today, he replied: “Yes, why not? Everybody knows we are the underdog and we have to get a lot of details right but we showed in the first game that we can make things hard for City.” As for his team’s approach, he said: “It’s the Cup so it’s live or die - and we’d like to live. It’s a great occasion – the oldest competition in the world - and we’re still in it, so go out with freedom and be brave.”
CIty fans might be interested to note that Monaco are also in Cup action today (at Marseille) and, unlike City, have omitted most of their regular starters.
City prepared for this match with a spot of warm-weather training no Dubai. I’d like to think that Guardiola took a leaf out of David Wagner’s book (as described here) and told Yaya Touré, Sergio Aguero and the lads to share tents and hunt and cook their own food, but I guess their agents would have told us about that already if such an outrage had taken place.
“In your preamble you say that David Wagner has had his side practising penalties!?” snorts Jason. “On that note of hubris from Wagner, i’m switching this mbm off, as Huddersfield will get tanked and won’t get near a kicks-from-the-penalty-spot situation.” Are you sure you’re being dismissive enough, Jason? Wasn’t it quite arrogant of Huddersfield to even get on the bus to Manchester? Now that the uppity sods are here, they should just sit on the sidelines and ask Pep if he’ll let them watch the Premier League stars train.
Wagner, by the way, has made nine alterations to the side he sent out for Huddersfield’s last (contemptibly lower) league match. Which means that today’s lineup is very similar to the one that had the temerity to draw with City in the first match.
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Preamble
Hello. The last time Manchester City played, on-lookers wound up gibbering like eejits as they tried to explain the fun, as Pep Guardiola’s hot-fangled troupe exchanged digs and slips with Monaco. And the time City played before that, they served up a belting match with Huddersfield. How belting? About as belting as 0-0’s get, that’s how belting. It was almost freakish that there were no goals in that game and it’s highly unlikely that today’s encounter will remain scoreless – mind you, David Wagner has had his side practising penalties just in case the teams remain inseparable by the end of extra-time.
That suggests that Wagner, although he will rotate his team, is deadset on advancing to an FA quarter-final bout with Middlesbrough despite the fact that Huddersfield already have a humungous promotion challenge on their plates and a high-stakes Championship bout with Newcastle United this weekend. Wagner, then, just loves winning (and sometimes struggles to contain his celebrations, which is why he’s banned from the dugout today) and wants to add to Huddersfield solitary victory in the FA Cup final, which came way back in 1922, when Huddersfield’s goalkeeper famously wore glasses and the referee famously didn’t, Huddersfield’s winning goal coming from a penalty awarded for a foul that took place outside the box. Pretty sure that’s when the use of video technology was first mooted.
We can expect City to be hellbent on victory, too, and they may even field a full-strength side, as they come into this game on the back of a couple of weeks off and are only playing Sunderland this weekend. During their break they swung over to Dubai, where Guardiola had a natter with the club’s owners, where discussions presumably included summer transfer targets and the urgent need to find a goalkeeper with flawless heading skills. It wouldn’t help the manager’s cause if his first match after that chat was a defeat to lower-league opposition. Or maybe it would.
All in all, this has the makings of an entertaining show.
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Teams
City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Stones, Otamendi, Clichy; Fernandinho; Sané, De Bruyne, Garcia, Sterling; Aguero
Subs: Cabellero, Sagna, Fernando, Navas, Delph, Silva, Iheanacho
Huddersfield: Coleman; Cranie, Hudson, Stankovic, Holmes-Dennis; Billing, Whitehead, Lolley, Payne; Bunn, Quaner
Subs: Ward, Smith, Hogg, Kachunga, Van La Parra, Wells, Hefele
Referee: P Tierney
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