Well, that's a bit more like it City. A good open match ended with a well deserved 5-2 win. City showed many more examples of their power game with Mahrez, Foden and De Bruyne being in excellent form the latter moving nearer his top form. After 14 minutes a great long pass by Dias found Zinchenko who passed to Foden and when his shot was pushed out by the keeper there was De Bruyne to hammer home from close range. The Saints equalizer came via a penalty 10 minutes later
City were then denied a penalty when a defensive error gave Foden a chance but the keeper appeared to catch his left leg but Foden stayed on his feet and the ball was cleared and despite VAR no penalty was given. Sterling will have to give him lessons on falling over !
However Mahrez gave City the lead following another defensive mistake and then just before half time a shot from Mahrez hit the post but Gundogan was on the spot to score to make it 3-1 at the break.
Mahrez then made the most of yet another error in defence to score his second and City's 4th after 55 minutes. Immediately City relaxed for a moment and Adams got a goal back a minute later. No doubt Pep will have something to say about that.
City were not finished and a few minutes later Foden helped De Bruyne get his second goal and City had to settle for just 5 goals!
It was good to see Aguero get some time on the pitch and he tested the keeper. There was also a sight of Mendy late on. We have not seen him since December.
This was an excellent response to the United loss and City are now 14 points clear at the top.

This was a game of 2 halves with City who had made 7 changes from the Southampton win unable to break down a desperate relegation threatened Fulham in the first 45 minutes. A better performance in the 2nd half however.
It was an unusual City team selected by Pep. With just three at the back and two wing backs and both Jesus and Aguero up front it took a while for the sky blues to settle. As City had won their last 7 games against Fulham we were expecting yet another but we had to wait until the early minutes of the second half before we could relax a bit . A free kick taken by Cancelo was swept into the net by John Stones - his 4th goal in his last ten games.
Jesus took advantage of a defensive error to easily score number two ten minutes later and then we had a big bonus when Torres was brought down in the area and Sergio Aguero took the penalty and scored his first goal since January 2020 against Sheffield U away. It was his first start since last October.
Ederson little to do and it was his 16th clean sheet and the unusual defence did their job to help. With both De Bruyne and Foden on the bench there was a certain lack of creativity from City but with important games coming up they did deserve a break.
City are now 17 points ahead of United in the Premiership. City have now won 8 away games on the run and equaled a club record of 16 away games without defeat.

City had complete control of this return game in the Champions League doubling their first leg lead to move into the quarter finals. It was an excellent team performance with City able to sub several key players towards the end of the game. Like the first leg the game was played in the Puskas Stadium in Budapest and it brought back some memories of seeing Puskas score four goals for Real Madrid in the European Final in 1960 when they beat Eintracht Frankfort 7-3 at Hampden Park. Enough of the past - will City go on to win in Istanbul I wonder ?
We will find out in a few days who the next victim will be!
It did not take too long for City to take the lead - a great swerving long shot from Kevin De Bruyne on 12 minutes gave the keeper no chance and it showed that he is now getting back to that wonderful form he showed before he was injured.
Six minutes later City made it two nil. It was set up by Phil Foden who charged forward with the ball and passed to Gundogan who flicked the ball past the keeper for number two - it was his 15th of the season. Surely Foden must play for England in the coming internationals. He has been involved in 20 goals this season so far - not bad for a youngster!
Ederson actually had to make a couple of saves and Stones and Dias helped to keep yet another clean sheet - 26 so far this season.
So once again a team without a centre forward goes marching on. Aguero did come on for 15 minutes but hardly touched the ball! Sterling too had some time on but failed to impress. Interesting times I think - who will Pep pick for the Everton game!

It's back to Wembley once more for the sky blues following a tough quarter final. City had made 6 changes for the Everton match and it was a bit of a struggle against a well organized defence. Just when it looked as though we were in for extra time a shot by Laporte was tipped onto the bar by the keeper and luckily for City the ball rebounded to a diving Gundogan who headed into an empty goal on 84 minutes.It was his 12th goal in all competitions this year and his 16th this season so far.
Six minutes later it was all over when De Bruyne cracked the ball home after breaking into the penalty area.VAR had to check whether a high kick by Mahrez was not dangerous play. Fortunately Mahrez withdrew his foot so the goal stood.
Foden had a good game and should have had a penalty when he was fouled by Holgate but once more he stayed on his feet and there was no VAR check made.
Zinchenko worked hard and headed a potential Everton goal off the line at a corner just before half time. Sterling was once again a bit off his best and City's game improved when he was subbed by De Bruyne.
Everton did have a few chances but the defence did well and there was yet another clean sheet.
City extended their unbeaten away record to 17 which is now a club record and City have also won 14 away games in succession - must be a club and national record surely.

Man City dominated this comfortable win against Leicester who failed to get a shot at goal in the first half. It was City's 15th away win on the run and they had made their usual six changes from the last game - the Everton win. Surprise selection was the inclusion of both Jesus and Aguero.
The City defence played really well and Leicester were rarely able to get into City's penalty area let alone give Ederson a hard time. There were few chances in the first half but we thought we had taken the lead as early as the 4th minute when a shot from Fernandinho from miles out beat Kasper Schmeichel but alas Aguero was in an offside position just in front of the keeper so the goal was ruled out. Kevin De Bruyne hit the bar with a free kick on 23 minutes and Mahrez had a good chance but Schmeichel saved .Vardy did net just before the break but he was well offside.
It took City nearly 60 minutes to score the first goal and we could never had guessed who was going to score it -
Mendy - with his right foot too! No wonder Pep smiled on the touchline!
City then clinched the win on 74 minutes when a terrific through pass by De Bruyne ( who else!) found Jesus who exchanged passes with Sterling ( on for Aguero) before netting himself from close range and it was his 24th birthday!
It was City's 28th clean sheet this season and they are now 17 points clear of United.
This excellent team display winning the ball back so well and always causing problem in opponents last third earned yet another three points and we only need another 11 to win the Premiership for the 5th time since 2012.

City take a one goal lead into the second leg thanks to a last minute winner by Phil Foden who easily made up for a couple of earlier misses. It was a game full of incidents and the Rumanian referee will have plenty to think about on his journey home. City had a strong side out bringing back Stone,Cancelo, Gundogan, Foden and Benardo so no centre forward today. Most eyes were on a certain opposing forward who City are interested in - Erling Haaland. He caused plenty of trouble but luckily did not score.
City took the lead on 19 minutes when a defensive error by Emre Can gave De Bruyne the ball. He drove forward - passed to Foden who gave the ball to Mahrez and his final pass was gratefully accepted by De Bruyne who scored. Ten minutes later City were awarded a penalty for a 'foul' on Rodri but VAR said no way.
Ederson was then lucky when Bellingham took advantage of his failure to clear and the ref gave City a free kick. At least in the second half Ederson saved from Haaland but failed to stop Reus scoring on 84 minutes. Oh dear we had actually conceded a goal! Fortunately as 90 minutes approached De Bruyne sent a great pass to Gundogan who gave the ball to Foden and thank goodness this time he slotted the ball home and City had a one goal advantage for the second leg. Phew! That was tough tonight The defence are going to be at their best in the second leg if we are to get through. I guess there will be another six changes for the Leeds game at the weekend!

on 90 minutes Gundogan gets a pass from De Bruyne.......

As soon as I saw the team with 7 changes I had doubts about getting three points and so it turned out. Despite Leeds going down to ten men they scored a late winner. City had lots of possession especially in the second half.
A rare error by Cancelo let in Dallas who scored via the post on 43 minutes to give the visitors the lead. Then just before half time Cooper was sent off for a foul on Jesus - .VAR upgraded a yellow to a red.
Torres managed to level the scores on 76 minutes thanks to a pass from Benardo and City made attack after attack to finish Leeds off but they defended well and then in added time Dallas broke away getting a good pass from Alioski and shot through the legs of Edison to win the game. With Sterling and Jesus having such poor games by their normal high standards I expected changes much earlier despite the vital Champions League game coming up.
Stones attacked a lot more than usual and spent more time in their half than ours. Mendy failed to make much of an impression down the left flank and without the creativity of De Bruyne and Foden City found it hard to break down the solid Leeds defence. We do miss David Silva! The City bench had 9 international players with well over 300 caps! Fortunately City have such a big lead at the moment one loss is not the end of the world and we are still on course for the title.

Well we did it! A tough second leg ended once again with Phil Foden saving the day with an excellent goal. For the second time City move into the semi-finals of the Champions League where they will play PSG.
It did not look so good in the first half and when Bellingham put the home side in front with an excellent goal things looked grim. De Bruyne had struck the bar with a good shot and Mahrez went close but calamity was in sight. However in the second half the sky blues had a spot of luck when a cross was ' handled' by Can and after 'hours' of VAR we had a penalty. I thought Kevin would have taken it but it was Mahrez who was given the job of saving the day and so he did bringing the scores level. City really started to dominate now and with Haaland kept in check by Dias and Stones things were looking up. On 75 minutes City got a corner and when the ball ran to Foden he cracked it from outside the area past the keeper and the post and into the net. He immediately ran to Pep to celebrate - magnificent. Dortmund could not come back from that.
De Bruyne and Foden were the stars of the day and it was not easy to break down a tough defence and with Haaland up front for the home side the City defence had to be at their best. For some reason Gundogan lost his rag with Bellingham and was not at his very best today.
It will be interesting to see what the team will be against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday after this tough fixture.

I hope City fans realize how important the inclusion of Phil Foden is in our team. Once again he was man-of-the-match scoring a vital equalizing goal and causing lots of problems for the Villa defence.
After the cup disaster at the weekend once again we had 8 changes but there was no De Bruyne - injured and we suffered a very early blow when Villa took the lead after just 20 seconds. Surprisingly it was John Stones who failed to stop a pass from Mings and there was even worse to come!
Fortunately for City Phil Foden casually shot home the equalizer on 22 minutes and 5 minutes before the break a cross from Benardo Silva was headed home by Rodrigo - not one of our regular scorers. So City were ahead.
Then just when we were thinking all was well ( still recovering from ESL) Stones was very late going into a tackle on Ramsey and VAR changed a yellow into a red so City were down to ten men just before half time. As expected Laporte came on for Jesus and it looked like we were going to be in for a tough second half. Fortunately the skill of Foden led to Cash fouling him badly on two occasions to deserve two yellows and so from 57 minutes onwards it was ten men apiece. City pretty well dominated the game and deserved the three points which moves them a bit nearer the league title. Only 8 points away now and Foden has now 14 goals and 9 assists - he must start on Sunday.

Well we did it - for the 4th time in a row City won the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley. It was great to see City fans at the game and it brought back memories of the very last match I saw live - the previous win against Villa in March 2020 - see the pics HERE.
With the PSG game coming up on Wednesday Pep still played a strong side - only six changes from the midweek league game - and both Foden and De Bruyne started.
City dominated this game from the start and it must have been very frustrating for Pep to see the almost moments! However as extra time loomed and no changes by Pep had been made City got a free kick and De Bruyne got his 17th assist of the season as the ball found the head of Laporte and then the net to give City the lead - phew! It was a well deserved lead and Spurs were unable to get near an equalizer.
Shame it was so late as the sky blues had been in charge all game and Spurs had only managed a couple of shots on goal - Steffen having to actually make a save from one of them - while City had over 20 - Lloris having to make quite a few.
It was good to see Sterling showing a much higher level of form than his recent efforts - he was more aggressive and positive in his play..
Alas Foden despite his efforts failed to score but he went near a couple of times and is looking like a player you cannot afford to drop! De Bruyne is beginning to show his wonderful passing ability and I hope he and Phil Foden will be playing against PSG. Cancelo had a good game too and seems to play better when playing on the left flank rather than the right one.
So City once more win the League Cup now for the 8th time.

City took the first step to reach the final of the Champions League in taking a 2-1 lead in the first leg in Paris. The second half display by the sky blues was very impressive though the goals that City scored had a spot of luck about them. However PSG were the better side in the first 45 and scored a very good goal at a corner after just 15 minutes. Neymar and company were very dangerous and City had to defend well to prevent them scoring more. Rodrigo made a couple of errors and Dias and Stones had to work hard. City did have a good chance to level the scores but Foden shot right at the keeper after taking a pass from Gundogan.
It was a different team in the second half and 20 minutes into the second half De Bruyne put in a cross which evaded everybody and with keeper Navas out of position the ball ended up in the net much to the delight of Pep and the City players. One all and PSG were hardly getting into the City half. On 71 minutes Foden was brought down just outside the area and Mahrez and De Bruyne had a discussion and it looked like Kevan was going to take the kick but Mahrez took the free kick and the PSG wall fell apart allowing the ball to end up in the net. Wow City in front !
Shortly after Gueye was sent off for a bad tackle on Gundogan and PSG had little to offer for the remaining time.
It's not going to be easy in the second leg. Walker and Cancelo had to defend in the first half but in the second they went on the attack though Cancelo's early yellow card did not help.
City have a great chance to reach the Champions League Final so I think there might be a few changes for the Crystal Palace game on Saturday!

With the league title on the horizon Pep still made 8 changes from the winning game in Paris and it took a while for the 'new' players to get into gear! Jesus did get the ball into the net but alas his toe was offside so it was goalless at half time.
However 12 minutes into the second half Sergio Aguero who started and was looking a lot nearer his old form took a pass from Mendy and cracked in a great goal to put City into the lead. Two minutes later Torres netted a second - his 10th of the season - to settle the result so if United slip up in their game against Liverpool City will clinch the Premier League title.
It was Aguero's 258th goal for City and so well deserved. He almost notched a second goal later too. It is such a shame he is leaving at the end of the season on a free.
The 'new look' back four managed to keep a clean sheet with a little help from Ederson and Mendy had one of his better games providing a vital assist to Aguero. In front of the back four Fernandinho had an excellent match both in defence and for his positive passing.
Sterling had a few chances and hit the post with one effort but I doubt he will play on Tuesday. It is going to be interesting to see who will be in the starting eleven against PSG. Will Aguero start and who will drop out!!!!

At last City have reached their first Champions League Final when they defeated Paris SG at the Etihad Stadium.It was a brilliant team display with all players playing their hearts out. It was not going to be easy as the visitors put pressure on the City defence despite the absence of Mbappe, Neymar was always dangerous and Dias and Zinchenko had to make brilliant blocks to prevent him scoring.
However City took an early lead when Mahrez scored from a narrow angle after a shot from De Bruyne had been blocked. It had been started by an accurate ( what else!) long pass from Ederson to Zinchenko.
Four minutes before City scored we had a moment of worry when the ref gave a penalty for hand ball against Zinchenko who told the world that it had hit his shoulder. Fortunately for City VAR came to the rescue and the penalty decision was reversed.
Another worry for City was the state of the pitch after a pre-match hail storm that must have affected their passing accuracy. Fortunately at half time most of the pitch was cleared.
On 63 minutes Foden broke down the left interchanged passes with De Bruyne and crossed to Mahrez who scored his second goal and that was game over. The opponents then lost the plot getting several yellows and a red card for Di Maria who kicked Fernandinho.
It was a nice gesture to bring on Aguero for his final minutes in the Champions League. City are the first English club to win 7 consecutive Champions League games and European matches also. Well done City -will it be Real Madrid or Chelsea in Istanbul???

at the final whistle Walker,Stones and Fernandinho celebrate

Zinchenko is in tears as City go through to the final

As soon as I saw the team that had 9 changes I had doubts about a positive result. However I did not think we would have to witness one of the greatest comedy penalty misses ever seen. Just after City had taken the lead when Sterling scored after Aguero failed to control the Jesus cross the Brazilian was brought down in the penalty area and City were awarded a penalty. Instead of blasting the ball into the net Aguero wrongly thought the keeper would dive so he dinked the ball down the centre right into the waiting hands of keeper Mendy. What a miss and how vital it turned out to be as City lead by only one goal instead of two at half time.
Chelsea had several goals ruled out for offside but equalized 15 minutes into the second half when Rodrigo lost the ball when he should have passed. After City were refused a second penalty when Sterling was brought down Alonso scored the winner for Chelsea on 92 minutes.
The team Pep sent out did not play all that well . It was an unusual set-up with a back three of Dias ,Laporte and Axe with Cancelo and Mendy as attacking wing backs! There was little magic going forward with hardly any creativity with the lack of De Bruyne and Foden. No doubt Pep did not want to risk any of his key players getting injured with the Champions League final coming up.
So now we have to wait until the Newcastle game to claim the Premiership title unless Man United slip up in any of their 3 games before the Newcastle U match. If it does go the Newcastle game it will bring back memories of the famous City win in May 1968 when City won 4-3. I was there for that one!

The Champions did it again - it was their 23rd consecutive unbeaten run in all competitions beating the previous best by Notts County in 2012. It was not easy either. With Pep making 7 changes and no Ederson,Dias, Stones, Foden and De Bruyne we knew it was going to be tough but a very good team performance with some exceptions ended up with the three points. Unlike the incredible game in 1968 when City won the league with the same result there were no City fans present. God I can still remember driving up the A1 with thousands of cars with sky blue scarves. Anyway back to this game and it was amazing to see Carson in goal -his debut for City at 35 and his first premier league game for ten years! Anyway he was beaten by a header at a corner on 25 minutes which put the home side ahead. It did not take long for City to equalize though - a shot by Cancelo from just inside the box was deflected by a defender to make it one all. City then went ahead just before half time when Torres scored following a free kick - an athletic effort by Torres.
Just on half time Newcastle scored when Ake lost the plot and gave away a penalty. VAR spent ages deciding whether a forward was offside at the start of the movement!
Newcastle got a second penalty on 60 odd minutes when Walker brought down Willock. Carson saved the kick but the ball ran to Willock who scored to put the home side ahead. Two minutes later a cross by Jesus was shot home by Torres and a further two minutes later he completed his hat-trick to give City victory - amazing stuff.
It was City's 12th consecutive league win away from home - a new record. Oh and City had 80% possession!!!
Congratulations to Torres for his three goals so will he take over from Aguero !!!!

It started so well for City when a great cross from Mahrez was headed home by Gundogan in the first two minutes.Then 8 minutes later disaster struck. Cancelo failed to deal with a long ball and then he clashed with Welbeck and too our horror the referee gave him a red card. On looking on replays it did not seem a correct decision so one would have thought VAR would have over-ruled it - but no and Cancelo had to go and City were down to ten men after just 10 minutes. Garcia came on for Torres to fill the right back position - Walker being absent injured.
City led at half time despite having ten men and then we had a wonderful bit of magic by Phil Foden who dashed down the left wing evading defenders and then cracked the ball into the net to give City a two goal lead -amazing.
Then we had a second disaster when Rodrigo passed the ball back towards his own goal straight to a Brighton player and Trossand scored for the home side much to the delight of the watching fans - yes there were fans in the ground!
With City only having 37% of possession -their worst for years - the City defence were pushed to the limit and alas Brighton scored twice to win the points. I think the stadium is still shaking!
Pep now has to make some vital decisions ahead of the Everton game. With the Champions Final coming up in Porto he will have to make some tough decisions.
I don't think City had the best of luck with refereeing decisions today!

From the moment I saw the team Pep had chosen for the Final I had doubts about the result.It was certainly a very attacking side but with the absence of Fernandinho in mid-field it did not feel right. Gundogan who has been used mainly in an attacking role looked a bit lost in front of the back four. Time and time again Chelsea caused problems overrunning City on breaks.
It was a muddled performance by City and we saw very little any creative interplay by the sky blues. In fact Chelsea had some good chances before they took the lead just before half time when a good pass by Mount put Havertz through with only Ederson to beat. Zinchenko did not have the speed to catch up with the Chelsea forward.
Further disaster hit City when De Bruyne was injured in a clash and had to leave the field after 60 minutes and Jesus came on.. The Chelsea side were well organized and their keeper hardly had to make a save.
Aguero came on late in the game but alas he could not save the day. Mahrez nearly did but his last minute shot just went over the bar.