Match Preview: Manchester City vs Chelsea

Wembley awaits as City and Chelsea clash in FA Cup semi final

By Aaron Leggott

Two managers come up against one another with a heap of media pressure on their shoulders. Perhaps this game could either make or break Roberto Mancini's and Rafa Benitez's season. 

Of course, the circumstances surrounding the two managers couldn't be any different. Mancini, for example, has a future to fight for at City - with some commenting that tomorrow could be his final chance. 

Under pressure? Mancini doesn't look like he's feeling the heat
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Benitez on the other hand knows of his future at Chelsea and it isn't one that will last long. The Spaniard has even admitted that he will be out of the door come May but you can imagine that he would love to silence his critics and deliver a trophy back to Stamford Bridge.

FA Cup: Top 5 Quarter Finals

By Aaron Leggott

After Saturday's emphatic 5-0 win at home to Barnsley, here are my top five quarter final performance's from City teams from now and in the past.

5: Manchester City 1 - 0 Stoke City. 3rd March 1934

This game will go down as the game which records the highest attendance at a club ground in England to this day. City comfortably beat the Potters 1-0 in front of 84,569 fans and secured a semi final tie against Aston Villa at Leeds Road.

City beat Villa 6-1 (familiar scoreline, hey?!) and ended up fulfilling club captain Sam Cowan's promise that the Blues would win the trophy after failing at the final hurdle the season before, thanks to goals from Fred Tilson which secured a 2-1 victory for City against Portsmouth.

Match Reflection: Manchester City 5 - 0 Barnsley

Emphatic win secures potential Manchester derby in semi final

By Aaron Leggott

Clinical, deadly, effective. These are just some of the superlatives that can be used to describe City's emphatic quarter final triumph against Barnsley on Saturday night as Carlos Tevez grabbed his fifth hat trick in English football. 

Without a goal conceded in the FA Cup campaign so far, City were extremely hopeful of dismantling a Barnsley side struggling at the bottom of the Championship, and they certainly gave the visitors no hope of a miracle almost immediately.

Match Reflection: Manchester City 4 - 0 Leeds

Competent performance sees City qualify

By Aaron Leggott

Goals from Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero secured a comfortable route into the FA Cup quarter finals for City yesterday as the Blues swooped past Leeds with consummate ease.

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.

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.

Match Preview: Manchester City vs Leeds United

Under pressure?
Photo: Scott Heavey/Getty Images Europe

Mancini is up for the cup!

By Aaron Leggott

City boss Roberto Mancini is expected to make a number of changes ahead of the critical FA Cup clash at home to Leeds tomorrow.

Mancini, who was less than impressed after last weekend's abysmal performance at St Mary's, knows that this competition must be taken seriously with United extending the gap at the top of the league to 12 points.

The Italian has also rubbished rumours that he could be set to be sacked if City fail to beat the Championship side on Sunday afternoon.

With Vincent Kompany still suffering from a calf strain picked up during City's fourth round win at the Britannia, it is expected that Matija Nastasic will come into the squad to partner Joleon Lescott at the heart of City's defence.

Match Reflection: Stoke 0 - 1 Manchester City

Fan favourite Zabaleta puts City through

By Aaron Leggott

After grabbing his third goal of the season at the Britannia Stadium yesterday, Pablo Zabaleta once again staked his claim as one of the greatest model professionals in the world at the moment. And this just isn't the opinion of Manchester City fans. 

Zabaleta celebrates after grabbing the winner against Stoke
Photo: Christopher Lee/Getty Images Europe

Ian Ladyman, Northern Football Correspondent at the Daily Mail, was quick to praise the Argentinian full back with the following tweet:

"I'm supposed to be neutral but Pablo Zabaleta is a wonderful man and a very valuable footballer."

And Ladyman wasn't the only one. On the ITV FA Cup highlights show last night, both Clarke Carlisle and Gordon Strachan agreed with the sentiments of presenter Matt Smith, who said that every manager would love a team of Zabaleta's.

Match Preview: Stoke vs Manchester City

Can City end a run of draws at the Britannia?

By Aaron Leggott

Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images Europe

Speculation regarding the future of Mario Balotelli has been the most newsworthy information coming out of the Etihad Stadium this week, with reports heavily linking him to his boyhood club, AC Milan.

However, with his agent quick to deny any move for the Italian, it seems that Balotelli is set to stay put at City at least until the end of the season.

Along with the rumours that Txiki Begiristain wants Roberto Mancini to move towards the infamous 4-3-3 formation used consistently by Txiki's former club Barcelona, there has been less of a focus on this weekends FA Cup tie at the Britannia Stadium.

The two sides meet in the competition for the first time since Yaya Toure won Manchester City the trophy at Wembley in May 2011, and the Potters will be looking for some revenge to that disappointing day in the capital.

Match Preview: Manchester City vs Watford

Our FA Cup journey starts with a tricky tie...

By Archie Barnett

The FA Cup campaign starts for Manchester City against an opposition that are being classed as somewhat underdogs in this encounter, but they should not be underestimated. The Citizens come into this clash on the back of a 3-0 victory over Stoke City, whereas Watford were unable to repeat the same scoreline, after losing 4-3 against Charlton Athletic.

Opinion

Carlos Tevez. To play or not to play?

By Daniel Robertson

Carlos Tevez was close to etching his name among City folklore, nearly up there with Manchester City legends such as Shaun Goater, Mike Summerbee and Francis Lee. The Argentine carried Manchester City to a third place finish in the 2010/2011 season, our highest finish for a very long time. He impressed the City crowd with his work rate, his pace and his spectacular goals. He had it all, but he nearly destroyed his career in one night in the German city of Munich.

City vs United: Match Report

Article written by Tom Smart

‘Eventful’ was the word many described the first Manchester Derby of 2012, albeit those that were in the shoes of a neutral of course.

Before the early Sunday afternoon Manchester derby kicked off, Manchester United announced that Paul Scholes was to be named on the Manchester United bench amid confirmation he had re-signed with the Champions after coming out of retirement. It was an announcement that shocked the football world, in the same week when it had been announced Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was to re-sign on loan for the Gunners for two months. The drama had only just begun.