Manchester City 2-1 Bristol City - 5 talking points

Aguero heads <p>
Aguero heads past Fielding to win the match for City in the dying embers of the game

Scoreline: Manchester City 2-1 Bristol City

Goalscorers: Bobby Reid 44' P, Kevin De Bruyne 55', Sergio Aguero 90+2'

Bristol City will feel hard done by a late, late winner from Sergio Aguero off a Bernardo Silva cross after they put on one of the best performances at the Etihad by a visiting team in recent history.

They made sure the Citizens sweated it out till the very last and threatened to run away with the match on several occasions. Bristol toiled hard in the first half and deservingly went ahead after Reid converted from the spot after he was brought down by a reckless tackle from John Stones.

However, Manchester City equalized through KDB in the 55th minute and fought back into the game in typical City fashion. Bristol held out and ever created a couple more chances until a late goal ended the tie in favour of Pep Guardiola's men.

With the second leg set to be played at Ashton Gate in a fortnight, here are 5 talking points from the game:


#5 Sub-standard finishing let City down

City's a
City's attackers were all guilty of missing good goalscoring opportunities

Manchester City, in the absence of Aguero and Jesus still looked every bit the free-scoring juggernaut in build-up but not in the final product. On more than a half a dozen occasions, the Citizens bottled good chances.

Bernardo Silva and Gundogan made a mess of two glorious opportunities as De Bruyne and Sane offered Fielding a couple of opportunities to break a sweat.

Leroy Sane was a menacing presence on the left wing but his delivery often fell to nobody as Pep Guardiola's men struggled to break the deadlock.

In the second half, even as City turned on the style, they couldn't find the net with Sterling and De Bruyne both missing from promising positions. However, at the end of the day, it was ultimately 2 well-taken goals that saved them as De Bruyne and Aguero made sure Fielding stood no chance as the ball soared past him and into the net.

#4 Bristol City take the game to City and earn a well-deserved first-half lead

Bobby Reid
Bobby Reid converts the spot-kick

In what was an open game from the get-go, Bristol City and Manchester City kept creating chance after chance and gifted us a compelling cup-tie. Lee Johnson's men started pressing the City players into mistakes and soon realized that this game could be theirs for the taking.

On several occasions, Bristol's attackers were willing to fancy their chances as Paterson, Bryan, Bobby Reid and Pack all made sure Claudio Bravo had a long night.

They didn't afford City any peace or an inch of space by dogging them down in their own half and winning the ball back on several occasions. It was in fact, one such move that culminated in a spot kick.

Brownhill stole the ball from Mangala, motored ahead and rolled the ball into Reid's path. The forward, sensing Stones' eagerness to deal with the danger with a dangerous slide, poked the ball away and took one for the team and hit the ground hard.

He then calmly slotted the ball home to round off a delightful first-half performance and made Pep Guardiola prepare a speech for half-time.

#3 Manchester City's rotation almost cost them the game

City's attackers
City switched things up in the second half

Manchester City started with youngster Zinchenko at left back. Mangala and John Stones were in the centre with Danilo at right back. All 4 were equally guilty of being careless on the ball and they contributed equally to City being shaky at the back.

In midfield, Yaya Toure failed to exercise a firm grip over proceedings. Gundogan's attempts from outside the area were way off target although he was tidy with his passing and movements.

Sterling was wasteful but constantly hassled the Bristol City backline and was unfortunate to have a delightful dink over Fielding cleared from right under the crossbar by a 6"5 Flint who had to use his full reach and then some to dig it out of danger.

Bernardo Silva drifted in and out of the game and missed a decent opportunity in the first half to add to the pile of missed chances City had in the game.

Leroy Sane was at his best and once Aguero joined the party, City always looked threatening and ultimately, the pressure paid off.

#2 Heartbreak for Bristol City but the contest is far from over

It
It is still a night to remember for Bristol City and their fans

Just like in the match against Manchester City's storied neighbours, Bristol City were willing to give it their all once again. Riding on the back of 3 back to back defeats post the United triumph, Bristol had to dig deep to find the spark.

But a late, late strike from Sergio Aguero felt almost unfair on the visitors after the kindof defensive shifts they had put in, with Flint, in particular, being one of the best players on the night.

If Bristol City can repeat the heroics against Manchester United in the second leg of the semi-final fixture, they can pull off one of the greatest upsets in the history of English football in a fortnight.

#1 The quintessential chapter on the life and crimes of Kevin De Bruyne

There's no n
There's no need to worry

Another inspired performance from the unstoppable Belgian proved to be the difference between the sides in a tight affair. It was he who decided that he had seen enough and forayed into the attacking half at top speed, early in the second half.

As De Bruyne galloped ahead, the Bristol City defenders looked like they were running away from danger and retreated like a jumpy herd of deer at the site of a mauler.

De Bruyne then squared one for Sterling before receiving it back and smashing it past Fielding with characteristic ease. Another night, yet another thumping strike.

KDB wasn't done, however, and almost made something out of nothing as he just slalomed past 3 or 4 Bristol players to break into the area before unleashing a shot that was unfortunately deflected off target.

The Belgian playmaker was once again precise with his passing and showed incredible vision at times which saw him pick passes with the foresight of a fortune teller. De Bruyne will continue to prove to be the difference between Manchester City and the rest as Manchester City's glorious season looks to be getting better and better.

Quick Links

Edited by Shambhu Ajith