AGUERO SCORES 150TH CITY GOAL BUT IT ALL ENDS IN FRUSTRATION
Barca conquerors enjoy Aguero’s 150th goal but De Roon ruins the party
ALL that talk of a Manchester City procession to the Premier League title has been exposed as laughably premature.
Pep Guardiola has seen his side held by Southampton, Everton and now Middlesbrough in consecutive domestic home games following the shock of conceding Marten de Roon’s 92nd-minute equaliser.
Sergio Aguero had put City ahead with his 150th goal for the club but the Argentine will not be in any mood to celebrate the milestone.
City’s perfect start, 10 wins out of 10 following Pep’s arrival, suddenly seems a long time ago. And it is not as if they can play Barcelona every week. Middlesbrough goalkeeper Victor Valdes was inspired on his return to Manchester, where he spent an unhappy 18 months making just two appearances and falling out with Louis van Gaal at United.
He made a string of saves, most notably a world-class stop from David Silva, before conceding to Aguero in the 43rd minute.
City dominated with 71 per cent possession but could not make the game safe, paying the price a couple of minutes after Aguero had departed. George Friend crossed to the far post where Dutchman De Roon had peeled off Gael Clichy to power in a header for his first Boro goal.
Guardiola was uncharacteristically graceless afterwards. Partly due to his understandable disappointment and partly perhaps because Boro’s manager Aitor Karanka used to be No 2 to Guardiola’s nemesis, Jose Mourinho, at Real Madrid and had claimed before the match that Mourinho was the better coach.
‘We played well, we created more than enough chances to win the game,’ said Guardiola. ‘They played with 10 players in the box for 90 minutes.
‘If we had won 1-0 we would be talking about a good performance. But when you arrive in the last minutes just 1-0, anything can happen. We aren’t good enough in the penalty area but we will improve.’
Asked to compliment Boro’s defensive steel, Guardiola snapped: ‘I am not here to talk about the performance of my opponent. Their coach knows better than me the way they want to play. They scored with their only chance.’
Only when talking about Aguero’s 150th did the City boss lighten up. ‘Big congratulations. A huge mark, I only scored 11 in my career,’ he smiled, with slight understatement.
City must have feared a postBarcelona hangover given the effort they put in to beat the Spanish champions 3-1 on Tuesday night. And Karanka, who masterminded a goalless draw at Arsenal a fortnight ago, didn’t mind parking the bus again.
With Raheem Sterling rested, City took their time to put Boro under any pressure. It took them 20 minutes to register a first shot on target through Aleksandar Kolarov, but after that Valdes was tested at regular intervals.
He saved from Aguero, took a kick in snuffing out Jesus Navas that left a deep dent in his leg and showed outstanding reflexes to prevent Silva from burying a golden chance from eight yards.
But even he could not keep the ball out when Kevin De Bruyne angled in a perfect low cross that Aguero exploded on to between defenders Calum Chambers and Ben Gibson.
It was the striker’s 14th goal of the season and he stands sixth in City’s all-time scoring list. The leader, Eric Brook on 177, will be caught by the end of next year on current form and Guardiola will pray his marksman returns unscathed from World Cup duty in 10 days.
Karanka shook his players up at half-time. ‘We showed City too much respect and when you only defend against big teams, you are going to concede,’ he said. ‘I told the players we had to go and play with our intensity and style. That’s what we did and it was a much harder point than the one we got at Arsenal.’
Despite Guardiola’s narrative of a totally one-sided match, it was definitely more even after the break. Claudio Bravo had to be alert to save from ex-City striker Alvaro Negredo and Adam Forshaw.
At the other end, Aguero missed the target after set-ups by Navas and De Bruyne. Even so, he received a standing ovation as he left the pitch to be replaced late on by Kelechi Iheanacho with everyone in the stadium believing at that stage he was the match-winner.
De Roon’s goal changed all that to leave City supporters anxious about the title race with Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all in such close proximity.
For Boro, the hard-earned point meant that the earlier saves from Valdes counted for something.
The Spaniard has had a tough time since leaving Barcelona, suffering a serious knee injury at Monaco and then disappearing at United.
Karanka said: ‘I am really pleased for him. I said when I signed Valdes that he is not only a good goalkeeper but will be a leader in the dressing room, an experienced player.
‘It was amazing when the goal went in. I had players fighting for 90 minutes on the pitch and I know how important it is for us to keep adding points.’