4 TITLES FOR CITY? FORGET IT, SAYS GUARDIOLA
‘QUADRUPLE IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, WHAT WE’RE LIVING ISN’T REAL’
LONDON: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been doing his best to keep a lid on the hoopla surrounding his rampant charges but even he could not have expected to hear the first mention of the word “quadruple” before Christmas.
After his second-string side battled into the League Cup semi-finals on Tuesday with a 4-3 shootout win at Leicester City following a 1-1 draw after extra time, the Spaniard was asked if his team could win four trophies this season.
Guardiola’s withering look said it all. “Forget about it. That is not going to happen,” he told Sky Sports in a manner that brooked no argument.
That was all very well but the dazzling way his team are playing continues to make the fanciful seem possible.
The Premier League, which they lead by 11 points, already looks wrapped up, while City are now in the last four of a competition they are looking to win for the third time in five seasons at Wembley in February.
If they keep playing the brand of football that has looked the most scintillating in Europe then triumphs in the Champions League and FA Cup do not seem outlandish possibilities either.
› Forget about it. That is not going to happen. That’s unreal .... In football you drop points, you lose. I am not thinking about titles P GUARDIOLA, If City can win 4 titles
› Nowadays you do the scan 48 hours after the injury. That will happen Thursday, then we’ll have a precise kind of grade on what his hamstring is. ARSENE WENGER, On Giroud
ARSENAL EDGE WEST HAM TO REACH SEMIS
LONDON: Arsenal booked a place in the League Cup semi-finals as their all-changed side beat London rivals West Ham United 1-0 in an undistinguished tie at the Emirates Stadium here on Tuesday.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who replaced all 11 starters from the weekend Premier League home win over Newcastle United, still had plenty of international pedigree as England striker Danny Welbeck got the winner three minutes before halftime.
Welbeck’s persistence in bundling home from close range was one of the few highlights, a solitary shot on target, in a dull derby but David Moyes’ side never threatened Arsenal, with a wayward Aaron Cresswell free kick proving their best effort.
INJURED GIROUD TO MISS LIVERPOOL CLASH
LONDON: Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has been ruled out of Friday’s Premier League match against fierce rivals Liverpool with a hamstring injury, manager Arsene Wenger has said.
Giroud, who has scored seven goals this season, was substituted in the second half of Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over West Ham United in the League Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday and will undergo scans on Thursday to assess the damage.
“It doesn’t look very good for him,” Wenger told reporters after the victory. “I think he’s out of Friday night...
“We have to wait. Nowadays you do the scan 48 hours after the injury. That will happen on Thursday, then we’ll have a precise kind of grade on what his hamstring is.