The diminutive frontman nearly lasted the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over West Ham, as he made way for Fernando with two minutes remaining in regulation time. The performance was really, really good with the ball and without the ball.
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“In Bucharest [in the Champions League] we played unbelievable, but in the Premier League, we played only good in minutes against Sunderland and adapted well against Stoke, so – in the Premier League – yes [that first half was the best]”.
And then there was Sergio Aguero’s elbow that caught Winston Reid in the throat and forced him off the field.
“Bon voyage, whether it’s coming or going, for a lifetime or just a day … to me, who is leaving, and all those team-mates who remain”.
“I wasn’t happy at halftime”, Bilic said.
“They won but I think the way they played in the first half and second half was totally different”.
Manuel Lanzini did return off the bench for Sunday’s defeat against Manchester City and with more of his squad expected to be fit after the global break, Bilic has warned his side will come back stronger. “I am looking forward to that experience”.
“It’s a huge difference”, said Bilic. Hopefully nothing happens. If it happens, we accept and adapt. “He even had a go at me in the first half for not dibbling as much as I should do”.
There was no action taken at the time by referee Andre Marriner, but the incident could lead to a retrospective punishment for Aguero that could see him suspended for City’s derby clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford that comes after the global break. The referee was nearby and didn’t give a foul, but if he says he didn’t see it, Aguero could face a retrospective ban that would rule him out of City’s next game – the Manchester derby.
Despite arguably being worthy of a second yellow card on a few occasions, West Ham’s Arthur Masuaku was fabulous today at the Etihad. “We put them under pressure and forced them to make some changes”.
At least one flawless record will go when United plays City at Old Trafford in the first round of games after the global break.
City tried to sharpen up by sending on Samir Nasri, whose future under Guardiola is unclear, and the Frenchman nearly struck after being played in by Aguero only for Adrian to block his shot.
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After a fast start from City that saw Aguero and Silva just miss, Raheem Sterling finished off a great passage of play with a tap-in goal from the center of the box for a 1-0 lead. His quality is on another level but it depends on him.
