CITY FANS GIVE HART A ROUSING SEND-OFF
IF this was indeed Joe Hart’s final farewell to Manchester City, it was a strange way to say goodbye. A meaningless Champions League play-off second leg in front of a subdued Etihad Stadium. City duly took their place in today’s draw for the group stage, but Hart knows he won’t feature when the serious business gets under way next month.
The England goalkeeper will either have been moved on by then or be so far down the pecking order that he will not even be on the bench.
Hart was given the armband on what was his 348th and, most likely, final appearance after a decade at City, but no one is pretending that this is the way he would have wanted to go out.
The 29-year-old did his best to dodge the issue afterward, but admitted there was a ‘situation’.
‘That’s not for me to say; it is what it is,’ Hart told BT Sport when asked if he had played his final match in City colours. ‘That was a really special night for me. I’ve had a lot of good nights in football.
‘We all know there’s a situation going on but I feel that inside, outside of all the circus, we are handling it well as a good team with a good management staff.
‘This is a special place for me, there’s never been any secret made of that. It’s the place I’d love to be but situations occur in football but we’re men and we get on with it.’
He was constantly cheered by fans. ‘Don’t sell Joe Hart, super Joey Hart,’ pleaded fans to the tune of Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus. ‘You just don’t seem to understand.’
If they hadn’t followed it up with a chorus of their new tribute song to Pep Guardiola, you could have been forgiven for interpreting it as a show of defiance against the new coach.
But they know Guardiola’s mind is made up. He decided some time ago that Hart (below) cannot fill the ‘sweeper-keeper’ role he wants. The arrival of £17million signing Claudio Bravo will relegate Hart to third choice, and for a man desperate to keep his place as England No 1, that is simply unacceptable.
Not that there was anything wrong with Hart’s footwork last night. He passed the ball to his defenders easily enough, much to the delight of his fans and kept a clean sheet.
A Steaua team hammered 5-0 on their own ground last week were never going to pose much of a threat, and Hart spent much of the game as a spectator listening to the adulation from the stands. He seemed visibly moved by the show of support.
City confirmed their passage through when Fabian Delph headed the only goal of the night ten minutes into the second half. Although Guardiola had felt the need before the match to remind his players that the job wasn’t completed, he knew it was. Eight changes to the team that won 4-1 at Stoke City on Saturday indicated as much, even though most Premier League clubs would gladly take the fringe players who came in.
As well as Hart, a slimline Yaya Toure, Fernando and Delph made their first starts of the season under the new manager, who also gave 19-year-old Pablo Maffeo his debut at right-back.
If Steaua thought they had a chance of turning this tie around, they had a funny way of showing it as coach Laurentiu Reghecampf made five changes from last week and rested his star men Nicolae Stanciu and Adrian Popa.
The decision to hand Hart the armband meant he was first out of the tunnel where the cameras were waiting for a close-up that gave little away. There was none of the patriotic chest-beating of Euro 2016, just a stoic glare and some pensive gum chewing as we he went through the pre-match formalities.
They cheered when he passed the ball short to Gael Clichy after a few minutes. Indeed, the game was nearly a quarter of an hour old when Hart used his hands for the first time.
Hart had to be on his toes when Steaua won successive corners midway through the half, flapping at one, but there were precious few chances for him to prove Guardiola wrong. There was more to do in the second half but not before City had taken a deserved lead. Delph had already seen a first-time effort well saved by Valentin Cojocaru after Kelechi Iheanacho slid a pass in behind Steaua’s defence in the 55th minute.
A minute later, John Stones started the move and Toure and Nolito were both involved as the ball was played wide to Jesus Navas. His cross picked out Delph in the six-yard box and the midfielder met it with a glancing header into the bottom corner.
Hart was called into action three times in quick succession. He held onto a difficult shot from substitute Popa, raced out to clear high into the stands off the foot of Alexandru Tudorie, and tipped over a free-kick. Each one was met with raucous appreciation from the fans. MAN CITY (4-3-3): Hart; Maffeo, Stones (Adarabioyo 59), Kolarov, Clichy; Toure, Fernando, Delph; Jesus Navas; Iheanacho (Fernandinho 76); Nolito (Tasende 60). Subs not used: Gunn, Sterling, Aguero, Silva. Booked: None. STEAUA (4-5-1): Cojocaru; Aganovic (Stanciu 53), Tamas, Mitrea, Momcilovic; Enache, Sulley (Achim 61), Bourceanu, O Popescu (Popa 53), Hamroun; Tudorie. Subs not used: Nita, Simion, Vilceanu, D Popescu. Booked: None. Referee: Pawel Gil (Poland). Attendance: 40,064.