He made the desperate plea after watching his side thrash Crystal Palace 5-0 to stay top.City supporters jeer the Champions League anthem when it is played before games believing the club has been persecuted in the past by UEFA.But Guardiola said: “I hope the fans will come on Tuesday to help us.  Ederson spotted in Manchester city centre after horror injury Sun, September 10, 2017 "I know the fans have a problem in this competition but we need them.”Manchester City were put in Group F with Shakhtar, Napoli and Feyenoord.They enjoyed a perfect start in the first game as they beat Feyenoord 4-0 away.  … [Read more...]

Saturday, September 16, 2017. Vicarage Road. The day when the Pep Guardiola penny finally dropped for players and fans alike with a performance of “perfection” which Summerbee will remember forever.A dynamic, dashing display which hit the highest of notes, too, with world superstar Elton John who joined “Buzzer” in watching on with jaw-dropping awe.What Summerbee heard next from the one and only Rocket Man was music to the ears of a City legend after a 52-year association with the club where he’s now a proud ambassador.Summerbee said: “Elton told me he had not seen football like it for a long time. Noel Gallagher was there and he was impressed as well.“But Elton said it was a pleasure to watch Manchester City’s football even though his side went on to lose 6-0. I know many of the Watford supporters went home admitting they had witnessed some amazing football.“I think Watford was a watershed moment. Everybody knew what they had to … [Read more...]

GETTY Manchester City legend Mike Summerbee Saturday September 16, 2017, Vicarage Road.The day when the Pep Guardiola penny finally dropped for the club’s players and fans during a display of “perfection” which Summerbee will always remember.Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and the rest put in a dynamic performance which hit all the right notes in front of the watching Watford fanatic Elton John.And the kind words City ambassador Summerbee heard from the legendary singer that day was music his ears.The man known as ‘Buzzer’ said: “Elton said he had not seen football like it for a long time.“Noel Gallagher was there and he was impressed as well.“But Elton said it was a pleasure to watch Manchester City’s football, even though his side went on to lose 6-0. Top 12 … [Read more...]

GETTY Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling celebrate Sergio Aguero ticked one more goal off the hitman chart to leave him two goals away from becoming Manchester City’s most lethal striker.And Pep Guardiola’s manic marauders went goal-mad once more with another famous five – this time against Crystal Palace.That is now 22 goals in City’s last five matches.And there is more. City are now unbeaten in 14 Premier League games as Raheem Sterling poached a double with man-of-the-match Leroy Sane, Aguero and substitute Fabian Delph completing the rout.Guardiola, though, was not a happy bunny at half-time, kicking a chair on the way down the tunnel.Was it in frustration? “No, it’s because I don’t like the chair,” said the City boss – who also urged a ballboy to get the ball back into play quicker.“I got really … [Read more...]

Pep Guardiola has revealed that he felt Leroy Sané “did not deserve” to play for Manchester City last month after being unimpressed with the winger’s pre-season. Sané found the breakthrough for City on Saturday as they trounced the Premier League’s basement club Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Etihad. Roy Hodgson’s side put up some stiff resistance for the majority of the first half until Sané combined with David Silva to score a delightful goal on the cusp of half-time. The 21-year-old went on to set up two further goals for Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero in what was only his second league start of the season. Speaking after City’s victory, Guardiola explained why Sané had not merited a regular place in his side earlier this season, while hailing his display against Palace. “He didn’t arrive good. He didn’t make a good pre-season, he was not good in those games and he didn’t deserve to play,” he … [Read more...]

Yet even he had to smile after another blistering triumph for his rampant Manchester City team.They are top of the Premier League above rivals Manchester United this morning by more than alphabetical order. More important, who can doubt that they are top of the league for slick football and stupendous goals?A moment of magic from Leroy Sane began this demolition of Crystal Palace. Another from Fabian Delph finished it off in the final minute.In between there were two tap-ins for Raheem Sterling and a close-range header from Sergio Aguero that took him one goal short of equalling the all-time City record.It is the hunger to play, the hunger to entertain, and the hunger to score a hatful every time they take the field that marks out this City team to have the potential for something very special.They have scored 16 goals in their last three Premier League games, and seven more in two cup matches. They are an irresistible tide just at the moment. … [Read more...]

The Manchester City show rolls on. This fifth win of the Premier League season took the tally to 21 goals and added a fourth clean sheet to a formidable start from Pep Guardiola’s men. It was a duck-shoot at times as Crystal Palace provided easy prey and the south London side’s search for a first goal of the campaign continues. They have now lost all six of their opening games. This equals Portsmouth’s dubious feat at the beginning of the 2009-10 term, and if Roy Hodgson’s side go down next week they equal Pompey’s mark of seven straight losses overall. The bad new for the Eagles is that Manchester United are up next but City will hardly care about that. What did annoy Guardiola was Neil Swarbrick’s failure to give a penalty after Timothy Fosu-Mensah pulled down the excellent Leroy Sané. However, when Sergio Agüero headed home for the fourth a few seconds afterwards, the smile returned to the Catalan manager – and his team were not … [Read more...]

A glance at the Premier League table on Saturday morning suggested that this should be a cakewalk for Manchester City, the division’s leaders and joint-top scorers, against a Crystal Palace outfit that has made the worst-ever start to a top-flight season.  The south Londoners made them wait, however. Like a typical Roy Hodgson team, sitting deep and thoroughly drilled, had several chances to take the lead and frustrated their hosts for the best part of the first 45 minutes. Then, the floodgates opened.   Once Leroy Sané’s brilliant breakthrough put City ahead, a large margin on the scoreboard felt inevitable. A Raheem Sterling brace, Sergio Aguero’s header and a late beauty from forgotten man Fabian Delph consigned the visitors to their sixth consecutive defeat at the start of the new season. For all their good work in the first half, Palace came close to shooting themselves in the foot in the opening stages. Mamadou Sakho, making his first Premier … [Read more...]

RAHEEM STERLING struck twice as Manchester City stayed top of the table with another convincing win. Pep Guardiola's men looked did not quite hit the heights in the first half but Leroy Sane settled their nerves with a goal right on half-time. And the England winger - who was linked with a move away from the Etihad before last month's deadline - made the points safe with two simple goals. City were expected to continue their rampant recent form against rock-bottom Palace who had yet to score a Premier League goal this season. But Pep Guardiola had told his players they must go to bed on Friday night knowing they could lose the game - and not take anything for granted. It could have been a perfect start for City as Kevin de Bruyne's cross was nodded against his own post by Mamadou Sakho. But Palace could have taken a surprise lead with Ruben Loftus-Cheek striking a deflected effort against the post from 20 yards. And the on loan Chelsea man then flashed a cross shot across goal when he … [Read more...]

2.08pm BST 14:08 Preamble It’s top v bottom and, what’s more, a team who have scored 16 goals in their opening five Premier League matches against a team who have scored, um, none. “We should be embracing the challenge,” said Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson unconvincingly on Friday, before adding: “But, realistically, we know they have a better chance on paper than we do.” The fixture list has not been kind to Hodgson. As he tries to pick up the pieces of Frank de Boer’s miserable (and brief) spell in charge, Palace take on City today before fixtures against Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United. At least in their effort to shore up their defence Mamadou Sakho, the former Liverpool defender, is due to make his first Premier League start since his permanent move to Selhurst Park. “We hope, with his quality and his leadership qualities, he helps us move away from the relegation zone,” Hodgson added. As for City, Sergio … [Read more...]

GETTY Pep Guardiola has led Manchester City to the top of the league with four wins from five games Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany could start despite a recent calf injury.Ilkay Gundogan will sit out after suffering a minor knee injury against West Brom in midweek.Gundogan played against Baggies in the Carabao Cup after spending nine months on the sidelines.Mamadou Sakho is set for his first Crystal Palace start following his permanent move from Liverpool on deadline day last month.Wilfried Zaha and Connor Wickham are out.Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said: "[My players] have to have respect for the opponent. They have to know they can lose the game. They have to go to sleep tonight knowing they can lose. When that happens, we will be closer to winning the game."Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson said: "The pressure's never off. It … [Read more...]

Mourinho has spent just over a year at Manchester United having been appointed as Louis Van Gaal’s successor last May.Guardiola, meanwhile, is in charge of fierce rivals Manchester City, who he’s led joint-top of the table alongside the Red Devils.Mourinho and Guardiola had their fair share of tasty face-offs when they were coaching La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.And Keown is hopeful there won’t be a repeat of those fracas when United and City meet at Old Trafford in a few months’ time. Real Madrid v Barcelona: Which player recorded the fastest sprint speed during El Clasico?   WHICH player recorded the fastest sprint speed during Barcelona’s win over Real Madrid on Sunday? 1 / 24 … [Read more...]

BENJAMIN MENDY has revealed Bernardo Silva kept his Monaco team-mates in the dark before shocking them with his Manchester City switch. The Citizens duo, Kylian Mbappe, and Tiemoue Bakayoko made up fake rumours about themselves for fun after a stunning title-winning season. And Silva, the only one to keep his plans a secret, stunned his mates by sending them a picture of himself holding a Sky Blues jersey - sparking a mass exodus. Mendy told The Telegraph: “We started to have this game where we’d be asking each other, ‘So where are you going then?’ “And everyone would lie. Some would say, ‘Oh, I’m going to Chelsea me’, others would go, ‘No, no, I’m off to Paris Saint-Germain’. Everyone was making up these stories. "But when the calls came in and we all did go off to sign for other clubs, we’d agreed beforehand that we’d send each other Whatsapp pictures of ourselves at the point of signing, with the shirt … [Read more...]

That’s the verdict of former Premier League star William Gallas, who believes the Reds’ decision to sell the defender was a “shame”.Sakho was a first-team regular when Jurgen Klopp first took charge at Anfield following Brendan Rodgers’ sacking in October 2015.However, things went sour for him the following year when he was not only accused of doping, for which he was cleared, but also fell out with his manager on a pre-season tour.Sakho was deemed surplus to requirements by Klopp and never played for Liverpool’s senior side again following those issues. Every Liverpool player's weekly wages revealed   ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN is joining Liverpool - but how will his pay packet at Anfield compare to his new team-mates? 1 / 27 … [Read more...]

At least that’s the verdict of former Arsenal star Martin Keown, who says the two gaffers are now doing what’s expected of them in the Premier League.Mourinho and Guardiola took charge of United and City respectively last summer following the departures of Louis Van Gaal and Manuel Pellegrini.And for managers who’ve won 14 league titles between them as coaches their teams’ performances were sub-par during the 2016/17 campaign.United ended the season in sixth, with City three places better off but still a distant 15 points behind champions Chelsea.Both clubs have got off to fliers this time around though and sit joint-top of the table with 13 points from five games. Every Manchester United player's weekly wages revealed   NEMANJA MATIC has signed for Manchester United from Chelsea - but how will his wages compare to his new team-mates? 1 / 25 … [Read more...]

Roy Hodgson will oversee Crystal Palace’s daunting trip to Manchester City clinging to Fulham’s unlikely survival under his stewardship nine years ago as inspiration. Palace have yet to win a point this season and prop up the fledgling table having failed to score in any of their five matches. They will confront a City team who are top and have scored 11 goals in their past two league games alone, without reply. If the situation already seems desperate, Hodgson can point to Fulham’s remarkable act of escapism in 2008 as cause for optimism. His team appeared condemned when, needing to win their last three fixtures to stay up, they were losing 2-0 to Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Manchester City with 20 minutes to play, only to rally with a substitute, Diomansy Kamara, scoring Fulham’s winner in stoppage time. “We were doomed, week after week, but we just kept believing,” Hodgson said. “We had a nice campaign that Mohamed [Al Fayed, the chairman] … [Read more...]

GABRIEL JESUS abides by his family motto of ‘Always Smile’ — despite being hit by a devastating series of tragedies as a child. The Brazilian’s wide grin has become a feature of Manchester City since he arrived in January. Staff at the Etihad say the striker, 20, is the sort of guy you want to be around — always happy, always dancing. And right now he has plenty to be cheery about as the goals fly in and the wins stack up. But his road to the top has been beset by more heartache than most could imagine. So nobody should begrudge the £28.6million arrival from Palmeiras his success. The sadness started before Jesus was even born. His father left his pregnant mother for another woman — and died soon afterwards. Jesus’ mother Vera recalled: “I was pregnant with him and we separated. The father went away with someone else. Chelsea and Liverpool to lose further ground: Our predictions this weekend Man City to star in new fly-on-the-wall … [Read more...]

Aguero needs a hat-trick against basement club Crystal Palace today to become Manchester City’s all-time record goal scorer but Guardiola says he has developed into much more of an all-round player.Most managers – certainly Roy Hodgson at the moment – would be perfectly happy with a striker who just comes to life in the opposition penalty area and scores goals. But not purist Guardiola.There was tension between the ultra-demanding City manager and the Argentina striker last season because Guardiola wanted him to be more involved in the build-up play.But as Aguero (175 goals) closes in on Eric Brook’s 68-year record of 177, Guardiola is delighted with the way the former Independiente and Atletico Madrid star’s game has evolved.“He has always had the character to score goals,” said Guardiola. “His mother and father gave him that talent. He had it before in Argentina and Spain. He will die scoring goals, there is no doubt about … [Read more...]

Manchester City take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League. The game will be played at the Etihad. Manchester City have won nine of their last 10 Premier League matches against Crystal Palace, including each of their last four. The Citizens have lost just one of their last 24 Premier League matches at the Etihad Stadium (W14 D9 L1). Crystal Palace are the first team in top-flight history to lose and fail to score in their opening five games of a league season. Only two teams in English football league history within the top four tiers have failed to score in their opening six league games of a season – Burnley in 1997-98 (third tier) and Halifax Town in 1990-91 (fourth tier). Halifax hold the all-time record, as they failed to score in their opening eight league games in 1990-91. The only previous occasion that a side has lost their opening six games in a Premier League season was by Portsmouth in 2009-10 and they ended the season bottom. The last occasion that … [Read more...]

MANCHESTER CITY fear that they may be blown out of the water by PSG in the race to sign Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean striker is desperate to leave Arsenal and will be free to speak to European clubs in January as he is out-of-contract next summer. By contrast, Man City must wait until summer to speak to Sanchez. Pep Guardiola was confident the 28-year-old wanted to join City, despite a failed £60m pursuit in the previous transfer window. But Paris Saint-Germain are ramping up their interest and want him to partner Neymar and Kylian Mbappe upfront. Sanchez met with PSG chiefs in the French capital this summer, where they discussed a potential transfer. He demanded a staggering £400,000-a-week, which the Ligue 1 side admitted they could not afford to pay. But Unai Emery’s team did tell him they would hand him a hefty signing on fee and top City’s offer of £275,000-a-week. It is understood PSG will offload Edinson Cavani, who recently had a bust-up with Neymar … [Read more...]