Sadio Mane’s hat-trick helped Southampton thump Manchester City’s disjointed and disinterested second string 4-2 in Sunday’s Premier League clash at St Mary’s.
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Isco or James could also be considered to take the Benzema’s place, as the first leg proved that Real Madrid lacked attacking prowess in the final third.
Liverpool rested some players ahead of the second leg of its Europa League semifinal against Villarreal and paid the price, with one of the fringe players brought in – Brad Smith – getting sent off in the 76th minute at 3-1.
It backfired and City fans were not happy with the manager – or some of his players with Aleks Kolarov, Fabian Delph and Raheem Sterling in the firing line.
“I am very disappointed, especially in the defending, because we were doing well in the other games”, Pellegrini said. But in this case we had to prioritise Wednesday’s game [against Real Madrid]. I tried to select a team that would win the game.
Pellegrini expects Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne all to be ready for the Madrid trip on Wednesday, with all three not involved at St Mary’s.
Kelechi Iheanacho struck twice for the visitors, but Manuel Pellegrini’s largely reserve line-up wilted with precious little resistance on the south coast.
He received criticism for fielding a youthful team which was soundly beaten 5-1 but insists something must be done to allow English clubs to prosper in Europe and also take domestic cups seriously.
Southampton come into the fixture after registering a 4-2 victory over Aston Villa, who have been relegated from the Premier League.
Boss Koeman admitted he omitted Graziano Pelle after the Italy striker disappointed in training. “We have two different competitions, one is the Premier League where we want to be as near to the top of the table as we can and the other is to try and reach the final”.
“All young defenders should watch video of Kolorov from the time Southampton win the ball 80 yards from City goal until Mane scores!!!”
“At any level, that game was wrong and Man City, no matter what happens between now and the end of the season, have not had a good season”. They still need more points to finish fourth but that’s not my responsibility.
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On Mane’s performance, he added: ‘He can be a bit unpredictable but he was focused and clinical. This game didn’t give us enough encouragement.
