City and Liverpool lose ground, Mourinho happy again
LONDON: Manchester City had to come from behind to hold Liverpool 1-1 yesterday as both teams lost ground in the Premier League following victories for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
City, in third place, stayed a point ahead of the Merseysiders with a game in hand thanks to Sergio Aguero’s equalising goal.
Knocked out of the Champions League by Monaco in midweek, City fell behind when fullback Gael Clichy conceded a penalty six minutes after halftime and James Milner scored from the spot against his old club.
Liverpool, who had come into the game more after a slow start, were pegged back 18 minutes later when Aguero scored from Kevin de Bruyne’s fine low cross. De Bruyne then hit a post and Adam Lallana missed badly for Liverpool in an exciting finish.
Meanwhile, Manchester United’s upward trajectory since last losing a Premier League game five months ago finally resulted in some tangible progress yesterday when a hard-earned 3-1 victory at Middlesbrough carried them to within one win of the top four.
Despite remaining unbeaten since a humbling 4-0 defeat away to Jose Mourinho’s former club Chelsea in October, they had been unable to rise any higher than sixth place. Success at the Riverside Stadium, however, lifted them above struggling Arsenal into fifth.
Upset at having to play three games in seven days, United’s manager had gone as far as predicting that they would “probably lose” at Middlesbrough, but when the mind games stopped and the football began his weakened team did him proud.
“It’s fantastic because we managed in a week to go to the quarter-final of the Europa League, which is an important target for us, and got these three points which keep us in the race for fourth position,” he told BT Sport. “With injured players, tired players, suspended players, the guys were magnificent. We controlled everything until our second goal.”
United resume at home to West Bromwich Albion on April 1, which is the first of eight projected fixtures that month, including two Europa League
Young midfielder Dele Alli’s ability to surprise Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino apparently knows no bounds.
Alli, who enjoyed a stunning maiden season in the Premier League last year, took his goal tally in all competitions this season to 17 yesterday when he rolled home a penalty in Tottenham’s hard-fought 2-1 win over Southampton which maintained their distant chase of leaders Chelsea.
Alli did not enjoy his best game on Sunday but proved again that he has the handy knack of popping up in dangerous areas in the style of former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.
Pochettino knows that eye ties against Anderlecht. for an opening will be vital in the coming weeks while Tottenham’s top scorer Harry Kane nurses an ankle injury sustained last week against Millwall.
“Dele always surprises you and you can’t guess him,” Pochettino, whose secondplaced side racked up a 10th successive league win at home, told reporters. “He has an unbelievable personality and everything’s possible with him. It’s difficult to sum him up because he likes to run into the box. In the box he looks like a striker because he’s very smart and outside the box he plays like a midfielder. I saw him at 17 playing for Milton Keynes as a holding midfielder. Maybe one day he will play like a goalkeeper or a centre back or fullback.” – Reuters CAPE TOWN CITY go into the two-week international break with a slender one-point lead at the summit of the PSL standings, while neighbours Ajax Cape Town can certainly do with the hiatus to inject some confidence into their squad.
Both clubs registered draws at the weekend – Ajax 2-2 against a spirited Free State Stars at Athlone Stadium on Friday, and City a hard-fought goalless stalemate away to Bloemfontein Celtic on Saturday.
While the point was enough to take City back to the top of the PSL log, they have played more games than the other title-contenders. The Cape club have accumulated 39 points (21 games), followed by Wits on 38 (19 games), SuperSport United 37 (20 games), Kaizer Chiefs 36 (21 games) and defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns 34 points (17 games). One thing’s certain, the PSL is in for a real nail-biting conclusion when the season hits the final sprint in two months’ time.
City had a real tough time of it in Bloemfontein on Saturday against a determined, motivated Celtic. It was an encounter that could have gone either way, with chances aplenty for both sides, and, in the end the Cape club’s head coach, Eric Tinkler, was more than happy with the point.
“I think the confidence has gone to a degree,” said Tinkler. “In the first half, we looked lethargic and we really struggled to link up play. They (Celtic) were winning the second balls and they caused us problems in the first half. We were no reflection of what we were in that first half.
“The second half, though, was slightly better. We created more chances, we were more compact and we started to have a little bit more width. Possibly we could have stolen it, but overall we deserved at least a point. And an away point is better than nothing…”
While the City squad can have a bit of a breather during the break, there will be no rest for captain Lebogang Manyama and goalkeeper ShuAib Walters. The duo are in the Bafana Bafana squad for friendlies against Guinea-Bissau and Angola on 25 and 28 March respectively. The games are warm-up matches for the