Competent performance sees City qualify
By Aaron Leggott
The tie was arguably over within just 15 minutes when Aguero calmly finished from 12 yards after being fouled just moments before by Tom Lees, doubling City's advantage following Yaya Toure's opener 10 minutes previously.
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| Goal! Aguero was my man of the match today after scoring twice Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images Europe |
The Leeds showing was a performance which the travelling fans did not deserve, as the 6,000 strong support stuck behind their team, even if their manager didn't get similar recognition.
Chants of "Warnock Warnock time to go" could clearly be heard throughout the second half as the United faithful become increasingly disillusioned at life under Warnock at the helm.
But as poorly as Leeds played, you cannot take away the praise that City's play deserved. It is a rare occasion to see Roberto Mancini's side come out of the blocks so quickly, but this is perhaps a determined side looking to push on after the humiliating performance at Southampton.
The title race might be out of our reach at this current moment, but the players and management are well aware that the FA Cup might be our only opportunity of silverware, and hopefully this momentum can be carried into our league form and secure at least second place.
The decision to award a penalty by Mark Clattenburg was one which caused some debate, but I believe that the referee made the correct call in pointing to the spot. With Aguero neatly turning Lees inside out, the centre half was seemingly trying his best to take Aguero's shirt off by pulling the Argentinean off the ball, and in all honesty Clattenburg had no choice but to blow his whistle.
Looking at Clattenburg's overall performance, I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did. It is no secret that the majority of City fans aren't his biggest fans, but the decisions he made were continuously correct and he wasn't quick to brandish cards.
With us being drawn against Barnsley in the Quarter Final's, I am extremely optimistic at our chances of another trip to Wembley in April. Of course, nothing is definite in football and in their current form Barnsley will cause us a number of problems but if we perform to the ability that is worthy of English champions, then we should be too strong for the Championship side.
Stats
City Leeds
54% Possession 46%
17 (10) Shots (on target) 5 (1)
8 Corners 3
13 Fouls 10
Player ratings
PANTILIMON: A strong performance from the Romanian, even if he didn't have to do much. Saved Ross McCormack's freekick in the first half with ease. 7/10
ZABALETA: Another solid performance from the fans favourite. Didn't have much to do defensively but nearly grabbed a goal towards the end. 8/10
KOLO TOURE: Dealt with the aerial threat comfortably and rarely looked troubled. 6/10
NASTASIC: Like Kolo, he was rarely troubled and is on his way to being a top quality centre half. 7/10
MILNER: As usual, Milner never stopped running throughout the game and put in a great display against his boyhood team. 7/10
GARCIA: After last weekend's abysmal performance at Southampton, Garcia was moved back to his defensive midfielder role and you could see the class between him and the likes of Michael Brown, who was eventually substituted at half time. Garcia limped off in the second half but hopefully it isn't anything serious. 7/10
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| Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Europe |
YAYA TOURE: He looked a bit out of sorts (like the whole team) against Southampton but yesterday we saw the real Yaya. His first goal oozed class and deserved to grab a second if it wasn't for a decent Ashdown save mid way through the second half. 8/10
SILVA: His assist for Aguero's second goal summed up why this guy is one of, if not the best creative midfielder in the league. He was a class above the Leeds midfield today and hopefully this is a change in form for the Spaniard. 9/10
TEVEZ: Finally rewarded with a goal for the effort he has put in recently, and hopefully we start to see Carlos grab a few more in the upcoming months. 8/10
AGUERO: My MoTM. Lees and Peltier in the Leeds defence couldn't handle his pace, skill and endeavour, and both his goals showed the quality that Aguero can produce when he's on form. 10/10
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You can also follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaron_leggott
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You can also follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaron_leggott
(c) The Sky Blue View 2013
I listened to the game on Radio Manchester, and saw the highlights later on ITV.
ReplyDeleteOn the radio, Nigel Gleghorn expressed the theory from the matches he had seen, that referees were treating ties between clubs from mixed divisions differently than the normal standards applied, in that there was a greater latitude given to challenges, and it made for a better game.
I thought that our first goal could rival the opener at Newcastle as our best team goal of the season so far, and that the award of the penalty, although correct, was soft.
Merlin produced another gem of a pass for Aguero to expertly finish off a good afternoon's work.
Roll on the 6th round!