Team to party
Clemence
them in the Carabao Cup before losing in shoot-outs. Reid added: “We were disappointed with the last-minute goal but there was a bit of quality with that cross to Aguero.
“They move the ball well and at any given time they can do something special. But we worked hard to move the ball and we showed we can play good football as well.
“We just did what we’ve been doing all season against other teams: hard work, press, recover for each other, try to give the man on the ball options. It’s done all right for us.
“You have to give them a bit of respect but not so much that they can just roll you over. We want to be in the Premier League appearances. He then played for non-League Chorley, before taking up the role of a factory quality controller in Warrington until his retirement.
As unmistakable as he was on the pitch, Lawrence was unrecognisable just three years ago when a BBC reporter was asking passers-by if they recalled the 1967 Merseyside derby against Everton.
A small smile broke across Lawrence’s face when he was asked if he could recall the fixture.
“That’s right, I do,” he replied. “I played in it.” and we want to be playing the best teams in the top flight. We want to showcase our skills by playing against the best.”
Reid claims he would still have scored had he not been brought down in the box by Stones, who he swapped shirts with after the game. “I would have had a chance of scoring but we got chances the whole game. We may not have taken them but we had chances. We’re pleased with that and we’re feeling positive,” he said.
De Bruyne, City’s skipper on the night, praised the Robins but admits the runaway Premier League leaders are kicking themselves for not taking numerous chances to build a bigger cushion for the second leg. “They played well and are a good side,” said De Bruyne. “They came here to play and that was nice. I don’t think they had a lot of chances but they created some problems in the first half.
“We kept on playing and in the end we deserved to win it. We missed too many chances but obviously it was very good to score the second one.
“In the second half we played really well to put pressure on. They tried to keep it 1-1 because it’s a great score but they will still be happy with 2-1.
“Obviously it is us to go with a advantage.”
Aguero’s added-time goal was the sixth time City have snatched a winner in the final 10 minutes this season and De Bruyne says it is because they wear their opponents out with their possession game.
“Players get tired,” he said. “They put a lot of effort into it, like a lot of teams do. But whether they press or stay back it is difficult for teams to play against us. We try to play the ball around, they have to run a lot and you see in the last 20 minutes there are almost 11 players in the box.”
Guardiola has the option to recall most of his first-choice starters – such as Aguero, David Silva, Fernandinho, Nicolas Otamendi, Kyle Walker and Fabian Delph – to avoid an upset in the second leg after resting them on Tuesday. nice for one-goal