Pep Guardiola rests Sergio Aguero but is forced to turn to the Argentinian to provide a narrow victory as the league leaders are given a fright by a superb Bristol City performance.
Manchester City will take a narrow advantage to Ashton Gate in the second leg of the Carabao Cup as they battled to a 2-1 win over their Championship opponents.
Conquerers of Manchester United in the Quarter-Final, Bristol City excelled at the Etihad Stadium.
A rash challenge in the box by John Stones, following an error by the shaky Eliaquim Mangala, presented the Championship side with the lead. An offer gleefully accepted by the Robins’ Bobby Reid.
But the Premier League leaders rallied with a second-half strike from the ever-impressive Kevin De Bruyne, who ran from deep before exchanging passes with Raheem Sterling to hammer home.
It was left to Aguero to provide the winner.
City’s all-time record goal scorer started the evening on the bench as Guardiola made four changes from the side that saw off Burnley in the FA Cup third round.
Both David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi were rested from the squad, while Ederson, Kyle Walker, Fabian Delph, Fernandinho and Aguero were kept in reserve.
De Bruyne returned to the starting line-up, with Yaya Toure, Bernardo Silva and Eliaquim Mangala also getting the nod.
Guardiola opted to start Sterling in the central role, with Silva and Leroy Sane up in support from out wide. Toure attempted to shield the defence in Fernandinho’s absence, but looked ponderous and lacked the incisive passing of the Brazilian.
Sterling also failed to adjust to his new position as he dropped deep to run with the ball rather than live on the shoulder of the defence. The experiment failed to spark and, after 30 minutes, he was shifted wide with Silva taking up the central role. Arguably, he was even less effective.
With City struggling for a cutting edge, Guardiola was forced to turn to Aguero on 70 minutes and he duly popped up with a late winner, heading home Silva’s centre in stoppage time.
The decision to rest Aguero was significant, underlining the fact that Guardiola will be forced to protect his only fit senior striker in light of the injury to Gabriel Jesus. Indeed, post-match the City coach confirmed his thinking behind the decision.
“Sergio has played a lot of games. Gabriel is not fit. We have to protect him a little bit and now he is on fire, scoring goals. All his life he has been scoring goals.”
While there continues to be speculation surrounding City’s interest in Alexis Sanchez, there is no question that Aguero will be prone to rest and rotation leading up to the first leg of the Champions League tie with Basel on February 13.
City have seven fixtures before that tie and it seems unlikely that Aguero will be named in the starting line-up in all those matches. It remains to be seen whether Guardiola goes without Aguero for the second leg with Bristol City. Given their narrow victory and the Robins’ away goal, that now looks a gamble. It would also likely mean starting Sterling – either as his central attacker or at least in the starting line-up – thus limiting when he can be rested during this period.
The second leg at Ashton Gate is three days after the Gameweek 24 home meeting with Newcastle. Similarly, Gameweek 25’s Etihad Stadium clash with West Brom could be followed just three or four days later by an FA Cup tie with either Cardiff or Mansfield.
There’s no question that Guardiola’s approach to Aguero’s selection in those domestic cup ties will be vital to his prospects of starts in those potentially profitable home fixtures. And if he goes without Aguero in the cups, this could then put strain on his other attackers, like Sterling, that could then lead to rests in the league matches.
Should Sanchez sign, though, the situation regarding City’s attack will clearly need a revision by Fantasy managers. The Chilean is eligible to play in the Champions League, which could help Guardiola to manage Aguero’s domestic minutes more effectively.
The situation is perhaps clearer and more reassuring in defence, with Otamendi and Walker seemingly the players identified by Guardiola as worthy of preservation. Both will surely start at Anfield on Sunday and, going forward, they seem certain to be rested in at least one of the two remaining domestic cup ties to keep them available for league action.
The Gameweek 27 meeting with Leicester City – just three days before the Basel tie – remains the rotation hotspot, however. Guardiola’s selection for that match will be the source of much anxiety.
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