Despite a trio of strikes from Aguero – who took his top-flight tally to 21 for the season – it was the performances of the midfield duo that garnered praise from Toure.
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Despite another prolific season, Aguero has not been included on the shortlist for the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year, and Pellegrini was at a loss to explain why.
But there was nothing he could do to prevent Aguero curling in a deflected opening goal after Kevin De Bruyne showed good awareness to play in the Argentine. It’s not a case of I played a lot and played badly – I just didn’t play.
Cahill was not eased into his return from a hip injury as he was forced into a vital block to stop Aguero converting a fourth-minute cutback from De Bruyne. [Was it] the competition in the team, were there three or four players in one position?
Following Jose Mourinho’s sacking in December, things have improved for the reigning Premier League champions, but much of the focus is now on next season and how Conte will rebuild the squad.
“It was a bad defeat because first of all we were playing a very strong team”, the Dutchman said. “How can you compare me to the others?’ That was just not fair in my eyes”.Signed by City for roughly triple that amount last summer, De Bruyne has proven himself to be excellent value for money ever since. It virtually ensures that English clubs will stay ahead of Italy in Uefa’s coefficient table for a couple more seasons at least – guaranteeing the Premier League four places at Europe’s top table.
“He’s the kind of player who even if he doesn’t play well can give you something, a goal or an assist”.
“We made some mistakes. The first half we started really well, we tried to control the game, we had some counter-attacks”, the Ivorian said on Sky Sports.
Saido Berahino missed two second-half penalties as Watford hung on for a narrow win against West Brom. “That means we were in control but we didn’t have the ultimate bite to kill it off”.
– Thibaut Courtois is the sixth goalkeeper in Premier League history to receive two red cards in the same season (Neville Southall in 1992/93, Pavel Srnicek 1994/95, Jussi Jaaskelainen 2001/02, Maik Taylor 2003/04 and Allan McGregor 2013/14). “Of course we are disappointed but this is a team which is very experienced”.
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“We need to maybe speak next week as a group because we have some great players and some good lads”.
