AGUERO CAPS CITY’S HEIST
Everton fall apart after linesman’s byline blunder
HE IS not a huge man, Sergio Aguero. Not an Andy Carroll type, not a battering ram. Defenders know they are in for a fight when they face him, but not one where they are likely to come out black and blue.
Nobody would have guessed any of this, though, from the goal that took Manchester City to Wembley. Had Carroll scored it, the evidence would be advanced as the reason he should play for England. Had Peter Crouch duplicated it at Anfield on Tuesday, credit would have gone to Stoke manager Mark Hughes for a masterclass in how to play against Liverpool.
As it was Aguero, it will go down as yet another attribute of a simply brilliant match- winner. We are watching one of the great strikers of modern times. Most of the finest players in the world can be found in La Liga, but each time we see Aguero we can tell ourselves: not all of them.
And just as Aguero deserves to be at Wembley, so did City. They were marginally the stronger team in the first half, and streets ahead after half-time. They got very lucky with their second goal — the one that brought the sides level on aggregate — but it was hard to make much of a case for Everton beyond the opening 30 minutes. In the end, City were the most resilient team and from 3-1 down on aggregate after 18 minutes, fought back to win 4-3. Even given Everton’ s much discussed defensive frailties, that is an impressive revival.
Credit, too, goes to Kevin De Bruyne, whose appearance as a second-half substitute changed the game. He scored the controversial second, made the all-important third, and was then taken off on a stretcher, with what appeared to be a very serious injury. His right knee buckled beneath him, a classic sign of ligament trauma, probably medial. He looked in huge pain, was treated for some considerable time, and left with the injured area in a brace.
That may be his season, maybe even his European Championship, too, if the worst fears are confirmed. For a player with 12 goals and as many assists this season, in arguably his best performance of the campaign too, it was a cruel end.
His last significant contribution was the perfect cross for the header supreme. One of those that hits the net with the power of a shot, perfectly angled, utterly unstoppable. It halted Everton in their tracks and while the five minutes of injury time were tense, few fancied them getting back into the game from there. Despite some early counterattacks, Romelu Lukaku had looked increasingly isolated as Everton struggled to contain City in the second half.
So jubilation for Aguero and City, desolation for Everton and John Stones. The young defender may be the subject of interest from the biggest clubs in the world, but here was evidence of how far he has to go. Aguero was his man for the goal. He lost him. When De Bruyne whipped a cross in from the right with 14 minutes to go, Stones’s only job was to repel, to put his head where it hurt and stop Aguero by all fair means necessary.
Instead he was lax. He didn’t spot the most dangerous man on the pitch early enough, didn’t stay tight, didn’t track his run. Aguero got in front of him and sent the ball past goalkeeper Joel Robles. And that is why there will be no Merseyside final at Wembley. Defensively, Everton are just not strong enough.
Or lucky enough, some will say. They were stiffed for the second City goal. Offsides can be marginal, handball can be subjective, but the white lines on the pitch are pretty damn finite.
So, on this occasion, Roberto Martinez has every reason to feel hard done by. A ball that went dead was brought back to life by the failure of the officials to spot a very black and white call. Before Raheem Sterling had the chance to pull the ball back from the byline for De Bruyne to give City the lead, it travelled out of play. Not by much, by inches, not feet, but enough. It should have been spotted. That’s what linesmen are for. That’s why they’ve got the word ‘line’ in their job description — even if these days we are supposed to call them assistant referees. Some assistance these guys were to Martin Atkinson. No flag, no inkling, really. Sterling retrieved the ball from the dead zone, crossed, and De Bruyne smashed it into the net.
By then the momentum was all with City. Credit to manager Manuel Pellegrini, too, having made a big call — and certainly an overdue one — to withdraw Yaya Toure for De Bruyne. Time was, no City manager would have dared to approach the crucial stage of a tie without Toure, but City’s most expensive summer signing was the gamechanger here.
The first half was the best of it for Everton, as City looked highly vulnerable to their counter-attacks —Gerard Deulofeu on the wing, Ross Barkley through the middle, Lukaku lurking dangerously in sight of goal. Everton’s first break saw Deulofeu scorch down the flank, his cross eluding the giant Belgian in the centre by inches. Manchester City passed and probed, but Everton knew what they were about, and scored the first goal from a rearguard action.
A Manchester City move was mopped up at the back, City thought with a foul on Aguero, and eventually Leon Osman played it out to Barkley. He ran straight and true at the heart of the City defence — capitalising on an impetuous commitment by Nicolas Otamendi, high up the field. At West Ham, Otamendi was caught out playing with his hair; this time he was
unnecessarily playing in midfield, again with calamitous results.
Barkley evaded him and strode on goal, striking a lovely shot from 25 yards that beat Willy Caballero at his near post. At that point, Manchester City needed two just to reach extra time. They didn’t have to wait long for the first.
David Silva played in Aguero on the left, he ran on goal and hit a shot which cannoned off Phil Jagielka, into the path of Fernandinho. He tried the same, catching a break when Leighton Baines tried to block it, the ball ricocheting up off the heel of a boot, and over Robles in the Everton goal.
If City’s equaliser had a hint of fortune, they were unlucky when Aguero hit a post, and then Silva struck wood with a header after half-time. Whatever hell the officials inflicted on Everton, City were the better side. The quadruple remains on, and Liverpool await at Wembley. Having walked into a treble season at Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola could be forgiven for wearing red on February 28.