Sports
Man City nip Bristol in 1st leg of EFL Cup semis
Manchester, Jan 10 (IANS) Sergio Agüero’s stoppage time goal gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory here over second-division club Bristol City in the first leg of an EFL Cup semifinal tie.
The hosts, who remain undefeated more than half-way through the English Premier League (EPL) season, found themselves challenged by a Bristol squad who were full of confidence on Tuesday after eliminating holders Manchester United in the quarterfinals, reports Efe.
Aiming for the quadruple: EPL, Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup, City fielded a strong side including Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gündogan, Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones.
The injured Gabriel Jesus was unavailable and Agüero started the match on the bench.
Bristol, showing no signs of being intimidated by their mighty rivals, were more impressive than many Premier League teams have been in visits to the Etihad this season.
The Robins’ boldness paid off with a goal just before half-time.
Bobby Reid exploited a giveaway by City’s Eliaquim Mangala and lured John Stones into a poor challenge to win the penalty and then converted from the spot to make it 1-0 for Bristol.
City nearly equalized before the break, but Bristol defender Aden Flint came up with a timely header on the goal line to stop Sterling’s shot.
The underdog visitors preserved the lead until the 54th minute, when De Bruyne scored for City after a give-and-go with Sterling.
Agüero’s header in the 92nd minute gave City the win.
The second leg is set for January 23 in Bristol.
–IANS
sam/vm
Home
Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.