No apology from Aleks after Chelsea thumped
ALEKS Zinchenko had no sympathy for Chelsea’s players after City dished out a 6-0 hammering.
The utility player was surprisingly brought back in for his first league start since late December but had little defensive work to do as the home side dominated at the Etihad, his biggest contribution an assist for Raheem Sterling’s sixth goal.
City, who came in for bizarre criticism for continuing to score against Burton Albion in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, added another two goals in the second half after going in at the break four goals to the good.
But Zinchenko was blunt when asked if he sympathised with the beaten players.
“No, this can happen. It’s football,” he said. “You can score and concede.
“We had a bit more luck but it comes from hard work on the training pitch. The English Premier League is the most competition in the world.
“You have to be ready for each game.
“Everyone involved in our team is ready to play against Chelsea and these kind of teams. It was a big game difficult and we prepared well. We played like a real family.”
Chelsea will have to be more prepared when they take on City in the Carabao Cup final a week on Sunday. Maurizio Sarri can still win a trophy in his first season as a manager by beating Guardiola for a second time, but the defending champions have shown in their response to a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle that they will not give up any competition readily without a fight.
If it is still too early to talk seriously about the Quadruple, that has not stopped the City players from publicly stating their ambitions.
“Hopefully we can win every title. We are going to fight for every one of them. Hopefully we can win all four,” Zinchenko added.
“We are still fighting for the title and we have to have full focus on our game now.
“I hope Liverpool are going to drop some points in the next game.
“But first we have to focus on us. That’s what I’d say.”