Full time: Middlesbrough 0-2 Manchester City
Peep peep! City ease into the semi-finals with a quietly emphatic victory over Middlesbrough. David Silva’s early goal pretty much decided the match; Sergio Aguero’s second-half goal confirmed it was all over. Thanks for your company, bye.
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90+2 min “Surely Clayton should get a retrospective for the stamp on Sterling!!” says Bill.
It depends on how much media coverage it gets. These things are rarely decided on merit.
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90+1 min City’s final change. Sergio Aguero, who killed this game with that excellent second goal, is replaced by Kelechi Iheanacho.
89 min This will be City’s sixth consecutive clean sheet away from home. They still aren’t exactly watertight, but it is progress.
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87 min Another change for City: Fernando replaces Yaya Toure.
87 min “Saying the Ethiad has sold out also has more than one meaning,” says Ian Copestake.
86 min “Before we all pack up and go home, can we stop and appreciate the job that Kevin De Bruyne has done today?” says Matt Loten. “Aguero, Sane, Silva and Sterling have played brilliant Pep-ball up top, but De Bruyne has been sublime in a much deeper role than usual, picking up the ball in front of the back four and initiating play. I think after his whirlwind reintroduction to English football last season, he’s been a little forgotten about this year, but whilst he’s not getting the assists or goals that he was, he’s making this side tick in his own way.”
Yes he’s a glorious and very selfless player. There’s nobody with his range of skills in the league. He’s the closest Guardiola will have to an Iniesta at City.
84 min “How’s Fabio playing?” says Arjun Kallapur. “Is he still the lazy defender from Man United?”
He’s played pretty well I think, but I watch football through DaSilva-tinted spectacles.
83 min De Roon is booked for repeat offending.
82 min City have played some glorious football today. De Bruyne runs down the right and curls a ridiculously good cross around the defence and towards the far post, where the stretching Nolito just can’t reach it.
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81 min Earlier on, I missed a shocking tackle from Clayton on Sterling. He wasn’t booked but might have been sent off, looking at the replays.
80 min Sterling hares into the area and hits a low left-footed shot that brings another really smart save from Guzan. He and Gibson have played brilliantly in the face of certain defeat.
78 min “The Etihad is sold out every match,” says J. A. Hopkin. “The Stoke fixture was a re-arranged match at short notice due to cup progression, and also on TV, hence the low turnout.”
‘Lacking’ has more than one meaning in this context.
77 min Stones clears off the line! The chance came from a quite scintillating run down the right by Traore. This time he got the cross right too, standing it up beyond the far post. Negredo stretched to head down towards the penalty spot, where Fabio arrived late to head the bouncing ball towards goal. Bravo got hands to it but it would have gone into the corner but for Stones’ clearance.
76 min Nolito’s fringe bounces down the left wing before his right foot plays a good through pass to Silva. His cross is cleared by the quietly heroic Gibson.
75 min City’s home support is sometimes a bit lacking but their away fans have been great today. The game has been played in a belting atmosphere.
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74 min “Hey Rob,” says JR. “Philosophical question here. Can any game truly be declared over with Bravo in goal? He stinks.”
Poor bloke, his confidence is through the floor. He’s better than this, but I’m not sure we’ll see it in a City shirt. It’ll be interesting to see if Guardiola, who is stubborn and proud, cuts his losses in the summer or hopes the Pires Principle will apply to Bravo in his second season.
73 min Mike Dean inexplicably misses the chance to give a penalty when Stones is tripped by the unsighted Gibson. Moments later, Silva’s shot hits Gibson and deflects into the groin of Guzan, who had already dived the other way. City could have scored eight today.
71 min City have a goal disallowed. Guzan fumbles Aguero’s long-range shot to Sterling, who taps in from four yards before realising he has given offside. Replays show it was an extremely tight decision that could have gone either way.
70 min Ramirez slithers through the City defence from nowhere. Bravo comes out, slides in and kicks the ball out for a throw-in. Who needs hands?
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70 min City’s SAS front three have just been too good for Boro. Sane is growing into a delightful footballer, and his importance is shown by the fact that he is going off with Monaco in mind. Nolito replaces him.
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GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-2 Manchester City (Aguero 67)
Guzan couldn’t deny City forever, and now the game is over. It’s a classic striker’s goal. Sane breaks down the left and crosses early towards the near post, where Aguero gets in front of Fabio to guide the ball past Guzan.
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66 min A Boro change: Leadbitter is replaced by the talented if not entirely popular forward Gaston Ramirez.
65 min The corner is half cleared to Sane, who receives a return pass from Silva and cracks a dipping 25-yard shot that is palmed behind again by the diving Guzan. It was a good rather than an excellent save, but they all count in the Opta stats.
64 min Guzan is having a fine game and this is another excellent save. Silva’s low angled shot from 18 yards went through the legs of a defender and was arrowing towards the far corner until Guzan got down to his left to fingertip it behind.
61 min A long spell of City possession almost brings a second. Eventually Silva plays a good square pass from the left to Sane, who swerves beautifully away from Barragan and hits a close-range shot from a tight angle that is kicked behind for a corner by Guzan.
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59 min De Roon has a go at Otamendi for making the most of a challenge, and both are spoken to by the referee. Boro’s best chance might be to introduce some needle to the game.
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56 min The longer it stays 1-0, the more you wonder if something absurd is going to happen.
52 min Zabaleta’s shot from the edge of the wide takes a deflection and spins wide.
51 min Aguero hits the post! City broke smoothly down the right, where Sterling - offside but not given - guided a low cross towards the near post. Aguero’s movement was too much for Fry and he clipped a first-time shot that was magnificently deflected onto the post by the right foot of Guzan.
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50 min Bernardo is coming off, to be replaced by the teenager Dael Fry. Godspeed, kid.
49 min Silva almost scores an identical goal to the one at the start of the first half. A clip over the top from Toure, a volleyed cross on the run (this time from De Bruyne rather than Zabaleta), a touch from Sterling and finally a right-footed shot over the bar from Silva. That was so similar to the goal as to be almost weird.
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48 min Bernardo is moving very gingerly and doesn’t look like he’ll last long.
46 min Peep peep! City begin the second half, kicking from right to left.
Half-time viewing
Half time: Middlesbrough 0-1 Manchester City (Silva 3)
Peep peep! City have been in control and deserve to lead, though Boro have had their moments going forward. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
45+3 min Now Traore is booked for kicking Otamendi.
45+1 min Leadbitter gets a final warning from Sheriff Dean after a foul on Toure.
44 min Sane gives the ball away in a dangerous area to Leadbitter, whose through pass to Negredo is crucially intercepted by the stretching Stones. Seconds later, Leadbitter is finally booked, this time for a foul on De Bruyne.
43 min “Narratives aside, can anyone explain what has happened to Negredo since that phenomenal half-season at City?” asks Matt Loten. “Not so much his lack of goals - Messi would struggle to reach double figures in ‘Boro’s defensive setup - but the fact that he’s there at all. His goal return at Sevilla and City was top-notch, and he’s got a goal every other game for Spain. If you’d told me in January 2014 that he’d end up as backup striker in a relegation-bound team which couldn’t buy a goal, I’d have spat out my tea and eaten my hat, simultaneously. “
42 min Sane has a goal rightly disallowed for offside against Silva in the build-up.
41 min Toure misses a good chance, nutting the ball wide at the near post from De Bruyne’s inswinging free-kick. In fact he mistimed his flicked header and it came off his shoulder, which is why it bulleted past the bear post.
39 min “Bloody virtuous non-drinking sports journos,” sniffs Ian Copestake.
38 min City break and Silva’s deflected shot almost wrongfoots Guzan. In the end he has time to adjust his feet and dive lovingly on the ball.
37 min A good move at the other end from Boro. Traore finds De Roon, who launches an excellent cross towards the penalty spot. Zabaleta slips and that allows Stuani to get in front of him. He connects well with his header but it’s far too close to Bravo, who saves comfortably. That was a decent chance.
34 min Sane almost makes up for his miss with a mesmeric zig-zag through the defence on the left of the box. He gets to the byline and cuts the ball back towards Sterling in the six-yard box; he would have had a tap-in but for some great defending by Gibson.
33 min Sane misses a great chance! City. Sterling plays a good little pass to Silva, who moves into the area from the right and passes the ball across the face of goal. It deflects off somebody at the near post and breaks towards De Bruyne, who is dened by an excellent block from Fabio. Moments later, Sane miskicks from six yards! It was a sitter, with his right foot from a low cross by Sterling, but he scuffed it and Guzan made a comfortable save.
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28 min Boro have done pretty well to stay in this game, because the first few minutes were extremely ominous. They still need to score a goal but that doesn’t look quite so high concept as it did 20 minutes ago.
26 min Alvaro Negredo, once of Manchester City, replaces Gestede. This, says Peter Drury on BT, “freshens up the narrative”. I like Peter Drury but bloody effing mothereffing sporting narratives need to go straight into Room 101.
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25 min Gestede is injured and needs to come off. I’m not sure what happened but the physio is currently pressing down on his backside. That’s a shame for Gestede as he was looking lively.
24 min Leadbitter makes an excellent sliding tackle in his own area to stop Sterling getting a shot away. It’s the queue for a five-second free-for-all, with seven or eight players trying to get hold of the ball, until Boro manage to clear.
23 min You’ll probably take a drink tonight, won’t you? Well I won’t, because I am virtuous. If you’d like to sponsor my virtue, you can do it here.
22 min Fabio wins a corner for Boro, and they almost equalise! Leadbitter’s inswinger from the left is won by Gestede, who flicks a header towards goal from six yards. Bravo fumbles it and Zabaleta hoofs it off the line. The ball comes back to Leadbitter, who dumps it back into the box, and this time Gestede heads onto the roof of the net.
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19 min De Bruyne plays a loose pass in front of the back four to Stuani, who collects the ball and then literally leaves it behind him as he runs determinedly towards goal. I know Boro’s attackers don’t see a lot of the ball but they should at least be able to remember what they are supposed to do with it. You can’t just run yourself into the net and claim a goal.
17 min Barragan is booked for taking a shortcut through Sane.
16 min City almost make it 2-0. De Bruyne plays a lovely angled through pass for Sane, who scorches away from Barragan and into the box. He has Aguero at the far post and gets caught in two minds as a result, hitting a cross-cum-shot that drifts well wide of the far post.
14 min Traore beats Toure with ease down the right, then wafts a cross straight out of play. A microcosm of his career so far.
9 min Aguero is still limping after that kick from Leadbitter. That’s a bit ominous for City, with the trip to Monaco on Wednesday in mind. It was a bad tackle.
8 min Guzan launches a long kick to the hulking Gestede, who wins it easily in the air and flicks it on. Traore scoots beyond the defence but Bravo gets to the ball first. As Steve McManaman says on BT Sport, that’s a tactic Boro should use today - Gestede will win everything in the air and Traore’s pace is like something from a cartoon.
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7 min “Rob,” says Alex Chance, “you’re telling me putting one’s pants on before one’s socks is old-fashioned?? I need to get out more...”
There’s all kinds of deviancy these days. Some people don’t put their pants on at all.
6 min Leadbitter takes his frustration out on Aguero’s left leg and is lucky not to be booked.
That was an almost offensively easy goal. Toure lofted a golf shot over the defence for the overlapping Zabaleta, who cushioned a first-time volley across the line of the six-yard box. Sterling mishit it but Silva was waiting behind him to rattle the ball through Guzan from six yards. Boro normally defend a lot better than that. I normally defend a lot better than that.
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GOAL! Middlesbrough 0-1 Manchester City (Silva 3)
Well that’s this game done. Thanks for your emails, bye!
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1 min Peep peep! Boro, in red, kick off from right to left. City are in sky blue.
“Ha!” says Ian Copestake. “Relevant emoji of some sort indicating profound appreciation.”
Bloody profound appreciators.
“Morning Rob,” says Matt Loten. “What does Aitor Karanka have over Steve Gibson to ensure that he remains the most bafflingly unsacked manager in the country? Now, in normal circumstances, I’d say he was doing a half-decent job: he’s kept ‘Boro out of the relegation zone for much of the season, and an FA Cup quarter-final shouldn’t be sniffed at (though it is). However, he seems an incredibly divisive and high-maintenance figure to have at the helm when trying to rally the troops for one final push, the style of football he insists upon is soporific at best, and his transfers are questionable. £12m on Bamford and Gestede; £12m on De Roon? Valdes on a free transfer was a decent coup, and £7m could be a bargain for Traore if he one day completes a successful cross, but by and large it’s not been a great return on nearly £50m since the summer. Perhaps I’m being very harsh and my judgement is clouded because I don’t think he seems a particularly likeable guy, but then neither’s Mourinho and I don’t begrudge him a single trophy, because he’s actually quite good at his job.”
Unless the circumstances are exceptional, I’d always give a promoted manager at least one full season. I bloody hate when managers overachieve by getting an average team promoted to the Premier League and are then get sacked by Christmas because of unrealistic expectations. You make a good case for getting rid of Karanka, and I don’t know the club as well as you, but as a general principle I’d be against sacking him. I think I’m quite old-fashioned though: I like to listen to albums in running order, and I still put my pants on before my socks.
An email! “Gadzooks!” says Ian Copestake. “You should utter a cry of “gardyloo” before unloading such invective on the shiny pate of Dean, he of the puissant peninsula of Wirral. How dare you be so swoopstake!”
Bloody Guardian readers.
Team news
Middlesbrough (4-3-3) Guzan; Barragan, Bernardo, Gibson, Fabio; De Roon, Clayton, Leadbitter; Traore, Gestede, Stuani.
Substitutes: Valdes, Husband, Fry, Forshaw, Fischer, Ramirez, Negredo.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1) Bravo; Zabaleta, Stones, Otamendi, Clichy; Toure; Sterling, De Bruyne, Silva, Sane; Aguero.
Substitutes: Caballero, Fernando, Nolito, Kolarov, Delph, Fernandinho, Iheanacho.
Referee Mike Dean.
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Preamble
Two Premier League sides meet in the first FA Cup quarter-final, yet there is still scope for a giant-killing. The difference between Middlesbrough and Manchester City, in everything from resources to current form, is so pronounced that it would be a big shock if Boro went through today. Not least because they would have to score a goal to do so.
The good news is that they don’t necessarily have to score a goal to get through: the new regulations mean that the match will be decided today, on penalties if necessary, and Middlesbrough’s outstanding defence – arguably the best in the division – are at least capable of keeping their sheet clean for 120 minutes. If the game does go to extra-time, both teams will also have the option of using a fourth substitute. Mind you, with Mike Dean as referee this could to go a penalty shoot-out without recourse to extra-time.
The lucid money is still on City to go through. Boro are in dreadful form in the league and defending against this City attack for two hours is nobody’s idea of fun. A win would take City into the semi-finals for only the third time since 1981. Pep Guardiola came to England to win Leagues not Cup; but after a tricky first season, he’d be very happy to get his frequently moisturised hands on the dear old FA Cup.
Kick off is at 12.15pm.
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