FIELDING’S SLIP GIVES PEP EDGE
Keeper lets Aguero pinch victory... but Bristol City battlers are still in this semi
SOMETIMES it can only take a splitsecond, one error of judgment, to bring a night’s work to a halt and turn unequivocal success in to something a little different.
Here at the Etihad, that sporting horror befell Bristol City goalkeeper Frank Fielding.
Prior to the 92nd minute of this terrific semi-final, Fielding had been his team’s best player. The 29-year-old had kept Manchester City at bay for most of the evening with a mixture of competent and excellent goalkeeping.
But Pep Guardiola’s team will ask you questions right until the final whistle and when the last one of all was posed, Fielding was found wanting for the first time.
The cross from the right was a decent one. It was one of those inswingers that leaves goalkeepers and defenders uncertain of who should take responsibility.
Here, Fielding stuck his hand up. In fact he stuck both up and dashed from goal in an attempt to beat Sergio Aguero to the ball. From the get-go he looked a distinct second favourite and Aguero was able to settle this first leg with a header in to an empty goal as Fielding crashed to earth with only regret for company.
It was not a terrible error. Had Fielding stayed on his line, Aguero might have still beaten him. He was only eight or nine yards from goal and is a very good header of the ball. Fielding would have had a chance, however, and that is what made it a mistake.
So Bristol City will wait to host the champions-elect in two weeks without a famous result behind them but still with hope in their bellies. They have an away goal that would count after extra time and, as such, are still very much in this tie.
They have beaten Manchester United already and played courageously and with tactical intelligence here. That will fuel them at Ashton Gate and one wonders what other teams and managers made of their efforts here.
The conventional wisdom is that if you try to stand toe to toe with Guardiola’s City you will go home with a bloody nose. Here was evidence that it doesn’t always have to be like that. It seems bravery and ambition can still get you a long way.
Lee Johnson’s team did not get the shock result they and the neutrals hoped for after Bobby Reid gave them the lead with a penalty late in the first half.
A man with Armani for a middle name, Reid threatened to leave City looking a little undressed.
Neither, though, did City respond well enough to embarrass their opponents from the Championship and end the tie. They equalised through Kevin De Bruyne just before the hour but that was as far as they got until Aguero struck.
Bristol City certainly earned their second chance. This was no smash and grab attempt from the underdog. They came to Manchester to play and compete. They stuck two players up front when they could and tried to impose themselves on opponents that some teams in the Premier League are convinced cannot be beaten.
Guardiola was definitely worried for a time, hence Aguero’s introduction with 20 minutes left. That was why Kyle Walker was also asked to play the last part of the game. The full back is one of City’s best attacking outlets. Guardiola feared a draw would not be enough ahead of a second game for which he will again wish to rest key players. So the tributes to Johnson (left) were there in his opponent’s decisions as well as in the words exchanged between the two men at full time. Early in the game an understrength City team were superior but not by much. De Bruyne brought two flying saves from Fielding and Bernardo Silva miscued twice.
But Bristol City were bold and by the time their penalty arrived in the 44th minute goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had already saved smartly from Marlon Pack and a shot from Jamie Paterson had struck John Stones in the face.
Bristol’s penalty was a shambles. Eliaquim Mangala gave the ball away to Josh Brownhill and when he passed it on to Reid, Stones felled him with a challenge of such poor timing that he almost broke his opponent in two. Reid took the penalty with his right foot and scored smartly across Bravo, and the game was afoot.
Central defender Aden Flint cleared a Raheem Sterling lob from the line almost immediately and Sterling was denied smartly by goalkeeper Fielding early in the second half.
At times Bristol City did allow the game to become stretched and they suffered when De Bruyne strode forward to exchange passes with Sterling and drive in the equaliser. With more than half an hour left, it looked a long way home for the visitors but when Fielding saved brilliantly from Sterling it looked as though they might head down the M5 with a memorable draw.
Fielding had a good night but not, as it turned out, a perfect one. He and his team deserve another go later this month and it is unlikely they will die wondering.