Sergio spares

PEP GUARDIOLA had to send for the cavalry to spare Manchester City’s blushes last night.

He brought on Sergio Aguero and City’s leading scorer answered the SOS with a lastgasp winner to edge them past Bristol City at the Etihad.

But the Robins’ Wembley dreams are still very much alive after they continued their Carabao Cup heroics.

Until Aguero’s winner, Lee Johnson’s Championship battlers looked to have done what only two teams in the Premier League have failed to do this season – stop City from winning. But even with their slender lead, Guardiola’s stars AT THE ETIHAD gave the Robins the lead just before half-time. That was cancelled out by Kevin De Bruyne early in the second half and City looked as if they would go on and establish a commanding lead for the second leg.

But poor finishing and determined defending meant Bristol City looked on course for a creditable draw until Aguero headed home Bernardo Silva’s cross.

The Robins’ progress to the last four had been far more impressive than City’s. Johnson’s team had beaten four Premier League teams – Stoke, Watford, Palace and Manchester United – while City needed penalty shoot-outs to get past Wolves and Leicester after a narrow third-round win at Swansea.

Bristol’s giant-killing exploits had sparked cup fever among their fans with 7,680 making the trip up from the South-west – a record away contingent since City moved to the Etihad in 2004. Their enthusiasm was not matched by home followers however, with plenty of seats left empty.

The Robins went into the game as the top scorers in this season’s Carabao Cup – with 16 goals from just 32 shots on target – although their form since their shock 2-1 win over United has not been great.

Three successive defeats did not appear to have dented their