BIG SAM'S FIRST SQUAD
City ace faces derby ban
SERGIO AGUERO could be banned for the Manchester derby after elbowing West Ham’s Winston Reid.
City are now sweating over their star striker facing a retrospective three-game suspension for violent conduct.
Referee Andre Marriner did not punish the Argentina striker for the second-half clash in City’s 3-1 win.
Aguero struck Reid in the neck yesterday as the pair went up for a high ball and replays suggested it may have been intentional. The FA could investigate after they receive Marriner’s report on the game.
A three-man panel would then decide if the striker should be punished for violent conduct. That would mean
PEP GUARDIOLA believes Raheem Sterling’s rejuvenation is down to him feeling the love at Manchester City.
Well this is a romance that is certainly blossoming.
Sterling bagged his first goals since March either side of a Fernandinho header as City cruised to the top of the Premier League.
The nervy moments after West Ham’s Michail Antonio pulled it back to 2-1 were all forgotten when Sterling rounded keeper Adrian before a cheeky finish from the tightest of angles in stoppage time.
Sterling seemed to be weighed down by his £49m fee last season when the pressure mounted at City.
But Guardiola reckons he is at his best playing every week and, while many doubted him, the City boss challenged him to show his talent.
Grow
So far he has delivered under his new boss. Much more of this and the love will continue to grow.
Here he looked like the player that dazzled in the red of Liverpool two years ago, his best display of three impressive league starts this campaign.
Sterling opened the scoring in the seventh minute with West Ham’s defence looking dizzy after City bamboozled them with beautiful passing football.
They were certainly turned inside out by the magic of David Silva, who trotted through before sliding a ball down the left for Nolito.
The Spanish winger pulled it back for Sterling and his finish into the corner was cool and clever.
The sea of blue shirts kept flooding forward and West Ham were drowning fast. Their defending for the second was shambolic as Fernandinho coasted in unmarked to head home Kevin De Bruyne’s whipped free-kick in the 18th minute.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic cut a frustrated figure as he paced the technical area but even he must have been impressed by the brilliance of this City performance.
It was Harlem Globetrotters stuff at times as City pinged balls all over the pitch, with De Bruyne everywhere as West Ham watched it play out in front of them.
The crowd noise was filled with oohs and aahs as they lapped it up.
Guardiola could only have been happy after the first 45 but in the second half the standard slipped below City’s usual high.
Out of nothing the Hammers had one back when Arthur Masuaku – who could have been sent off for a number of fouls – crossed and Antonio headed in before the hour mark, with Willy Caballero all over the place and Joe Hart looking on from the bench.
With Hart not wanted, City need new keeper Claudio Bravo as Caballero may have fancy footwork but the rest of his game is inferior to the England No.1.
The way Guardiola conducts almost every minute of a game from the sidelines with his manic movements shows that he wants perfection.
At times this was as close to perfect football as you can get, but somehow they still
managed to let West Ham into it. You could tell by the way he took a swipe at a water bottle as the net rippled from Antonio’s 58th-minute header that the new City boss was not impressed.
Sergio Aguero’s stray elbow which caught Winston Reid in the second half will also leave Guardiola frustrated if the FA launch an investigation.
This should have been a cakewalk and, while they were not exactly hanging on, there was some tension swirling around the Etihad until the third eventually came.
Sam Byram did clear an effort from Samir Nasri off the line that would have eased the nerves before Silva hit the post.
But then the Spain ace set up the third as he slid the ball to Sterling, who cutely cut past Adrian and squeezed the ball home despite almost being on the by-line.
Guardiola could relax at last and savour Sterling repaying the love.