The two-time Premier League winners will face Steaua Bucharest in the first leg of their playoff tie in Romania this evening.
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Aguero went close to making amends with a shot that flew over but Silva made no mistake as he rifled home a shot on 13 minutes after Sterling robbed Alin Tosca.
“Without a shadow of a doubt play-offs are usually just finals”. The Argentine missed the match with “Sunderland” because of the damage, but Guardiola has expressed his hope that the defender will be able to play against “Steaua”. Currently, the number one team is Willy Caballero.
I can actually see it being hard for the first half-hour against a side who have kept three successive clean sheets, but they should be able to find a way through.
But the disappointment of the missed penalty didn’t last long.
In terms of betting Manchester City are coming into the game as 4/9 favourites, while the home side can be got at odds of 11/2. Aleksandar Kolarov made a nice run into the box and was cut down by a sliding Gabriel Enache, once again giving the official little choice.
But despite this shortcoming, City looked irresistible at times with Sterling, Silva and Kevin De Bruyne buzzing menacingly. Sterling might have done better when he got behind the defence but Nita did well to tip over.
Four fire engines with sirens on now coming to plane.
Guardiola spoke of his desire to play a brand of football that will captivate the club’s supporters, and the Spaniard will have been delighted with his side’s performance as they showed Steaua no mercy in the second half.
The third goal opened the floodgates, and chances now arrived quickly. “We have just to target a positive result”.
Steaua responded to the pressure with a series of harsh tackles, earning several bookings in quick succession.
I don’t see any problems for City at all here.
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“It’s been a good start to the season so far and two games and two wins is the most important”.
