STOKE 1 MANCHESTER UNITED
Flak will not keep Pep from attack BIG MATCH VERDICT
a normal player and try to score more goals for us.”
Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who signed Rooney for £ 30million from Everton in 2004, said: “I would l i ke to s ay huge congratulations to Wayne.
“It is no mean feat to score so many goals and he breaks a record that has stood for over 40 years.
“Wayne thoroughly deserves his place in the history books and I am sure that he will go on to score many more goals.
“Well done, Wayne, I am absolutely delighted for you. You have been a great servant to this club and long may it continue.”
Stoke boss Mark Hughes, who scored 163 goals in two spells for United, said: “It’s unbelievable. Sir Bobby’s record has stood for 40-odd years, so it tells you how difficult it has been to break. “A lot of good strikers have been and gone in that time and not got anywhere near it. “Clearly we didn’t want it to happen against us but he has done that throughout his career and you only have to give top players one opportunity. “The impact Wayne has had at Manchester United is huge. He has won almost every t r ophy available and the scoring records are falling now.’’ YOU have to hand it to Pep Guardiola – however heavy the flak, he just keeps on coming.
And on nights like this at the Etihad Stadium Manchester City can’t help but believe that the intense Spaniard will eventually get it right.
After a demoralising defeat a week ago at Goodison Park the priority for most managers would be a cautious, pragmatic approach next time out – especially against a Tottenham team bouncing after seven straight wins. Not Guardiola. His default position, his creed and his instinct is to always go on the attack. For that shouldn’t he be lauded instead of lampooned?
That unshakeable philosophy is a risky tactic in the brutal cauldron of the Premier League.
And it is doubly dangerous when you don’t have the players to carry out the task.
City have invested so much in bringing Guardiola to Manchester there is no way they won’t back him with the millions it will take to re-build this team.
City went toe-to-toe with a Tottenham team who have had the benefit of a couple of years under Mauricio Pochettino. And they should have won.
A few times this season City have caught fire and again last night in spells their football was irresistible as they scorched into a 2-0 lead with a route-one goal by Leroy Sane and a Kevin de Bruyne tap in – both gifts from Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris.
City’s problem isn’t going forward it’s going the other way – and once again the defensive side of their game proved their downfall.
The lifeline goal which helped Spurs on the way to a point exposed the aerial weakness in City’s back four as Delle Ali headed in a super Kyle Walker cross.
The Tottenham equaliser was a classier affair – even if Harry Kane was a fraction offside as he played a cute flick into the path of HeungMin Son.
Guardiola had bigger reason to be angry with referee Andre Marriner for not penalising a Walker push on Raheem Sterling, who was clean through in the box a minute before the Spurs equaliser.
Grit
But there were still plenty of plusses for both bosses even though two more points disappeared in the pursuit of Chelsea.
For Pochettino it was the grit, backbone and character of his side who were out-played in the first half but still salvaged a point.
And for Guardiola, he saw plenty in a 12-minute cameo by Gabriel Jesus to be comforted that the Brazilian teenager is going to be a big, big player for City.
The South American striker was almost the hero firing in at the far post late on but he was denied by a linesman’s flag.
No win, but no real disaster either this time for Guardiola. Rollercoaster contests like this will put City’s fans through the wringer. But when you know the end result will be worth the wait where’s the harm in that?