ALEXIS TOO MUCH LIKE HARD WORK
AFTER seven trophy-laden seasons in Spain and Germany, Pep Guardiola will draw a blank in his debut campaign in England.
At Barcelona and Bayern Munich, he rattled up 21 successes, but all the Spaniard can hope for now is to clinch a Champions League place by finishing in the top four.
This semi-final defeat by Arsenal saw the heat on rival boss Arsene Wenger turned down and cranked up on 46-year-old Guardiola.
Defeat at home to Jose Mourinho’s resurgent Manchester United on Thursday will see them drop out of the top four.
And if they stay there, that will not be the expected return on the £150m he was allowed to spend.
Hug
The Gunners won thanks to a winner from Alexis Sanchez, one of the players Guardiola wants to sign this summer, if given the chance.
Sergio Aguero put City ahead but Arsenal, so poor in the first half, got going after the break and Nacho Monreal equalised.
Arsenal will face Chelsea in the final on May 27 as Wenger bids for a record seven FA Cup wins, to put him clear of Aston Villa’s George Ramsay.
At the final whistle, Guardiola went on the pitch to hug and console his players. But he could be the one who will need lifting if City fail to make it into the Champions League.
Arsenal were not exactly playing pretty stuff before the break, with David Silva having to go off in the 23rd minute after being kneed in the back of the leg by Gabriel.
Laurent Koscielny then did something similar to Aguero.
City were unlucky in the 30th minute when Raheem Sterling had the ball in the net, following up after Aguero drove Leroy Sane’s cross at Petr Cech.
But linesman Steve Child ruled that Sane’s curling cross had crept out of play.
Replays suggested he was wrong and that Aguero’s initial shot had crossed the line before being pushed out by Cech.
In the 63rd minute, Yaya Toure spotted Arsenal exposed at the back with just Monreal protecting Cech.
The Spaniard was no match for the sprinting Aguero and although his touch was heavy, he improvised brilliantly, lifting the ball over the onrushing Cech with the outside of his right boot. The Gunners