â€˜Sloppyâ€™ Man City might have gone out against better team - Toure

BetOdds Manchester City Manchester City v Brighton & Hove Albion FA Cup UEFA Champions League Tottenham Hotspur Brighton & Hove Albion Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City

The former Citizen midfielder believes Pep Guardiola won't be happy with their performance ahead of a 'massive game' against Tottenham

Manchester City put on a sloppy performance in their FA Cup semi-final against Brighton according to Yaya Toure, with the Ivorian made to wonder if a better team would have knocked them out.

Gabriel Jesus appeared to put Man City on their way early on, as he scored just four minutes into the contest to give the reigning Premier League champions a 1-0 lead.

But the game remained a struggle for Man City, with that Jesus strike the only goal in a tight affair.

While the result sends Man City to the tournament final in MayÂ and keeps their quadruple hopes alive,Â former Citizen Toure found himself unimpressed with the outing and suspects Pep Guardiola feels similarly.

Toure even went as far as to speculate a better team might well have ended Man Cityâ€™s FA Cup hopes.

â€œI think for [Guardiola] itâ€™s not just about the result,â€ Toure told BBC Sport. â€œItâ€™s about everything.â€

â€œI was a little bit concerned because City lacked energy. They were sloppy. After the first goal we saw more of Brighton than we did of City. Maybe if they had faced a better team they would be out.â€

Man Cityâ€™s attention will now shift back to the Champions League, where for the second year in a row, they will face Premier League foes in the quarter-final.

Last season saw Guardiola's charges lose their quarter-final first leg 3-0 at Anfield to Liverpool, en route to a 5-1 aggregate defeat and exit from the competition.

This season Man City take on Tottenham at Spursâ€™ new stadium on Tuesday in the first leg, with the squad looking to avoid a similar early hole as they suffered last term.Â

And following the performance against Brighton, Toure sees the match as a big test for Man City against a team that has a much higher level than the Seagulls.

â€œThey are still on their game and looking forward,â€ Toure added. â€œThey have an important game on Tuesday [against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League] against a better quality of player.

"It is going to be a massive game.â€

2019-04-06 23:00:04

Comments

Send Your Comment

Download Application