The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Gundogan hails Aguero brilliance as City march on
Ilkay Gundogan hailed the brilliance of Manchester City team-mate Sergio Aguero after the pair combined to turn around their FA Cup tie against Burnley on Saturday.
Aguero struck twice in the space of two minutes to spark a comeback that saw City recover from a goal down to power into the fourth round with a 4-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.
Both Aguero goals were set up by Gundogan, the first with a quickly-taken free-kick after 56 minutes and the second from an exquisite back-heel soon after the subsequent restart.
Burnley complained when the equaliser was allowed to stand, as they were not organised for the set-piece when Gundogan fed Aguero’s run across the box, but referee Graham Scott saw nothing untoward.
Gundogan said: “It was a freekick and the referee didn’t tell me to wait.
“I had some eye contact with Sergio. I know that he likes to use these kind of situations to play quick. As soon as we had the contact I was sure he was going to make the run, so I just had to play the pass.
“Fortunately it was allowed and I think it was also correct. We just reacted quicker than our opponents.”
Aguero started the move that led to his second. The Argentinian found Gundogan in the box and then continued his run. Gundogan read his intentions and backheeled into his path for a clinical finish.
“The timing was just perfect,” said midfielder Gundogan.
“Sergio passed the ball to me and I just had to save it. I was waiting for the run and Sergio was just at the right time in the right spot. I was quite sure this ball was going through.
“Luckily both actions were a goal and 2-1 was very important at that point. After that, we had all our confidence back, started to keep the ball and play very well.
“We scored two more goals and we are very happy with the result.”