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Take erling holland out of the team and Manchester City Two of his trademark celebrations were still held. Which, in turn, meant that he had the goal of setting them on a path Carabao Cup Semi-finals. If it is tempting to say that Holland is unique, Ryan Cherky Made his mark on the Norwegian, but more with his scoring than his act.
Haaland has a number of goalscorers in his repertoire, but perhaps not the rocket that Cherky fired from 20 yards, especially when he followed up superb footwork to head it past Mikael Damsgaard. But the tribute was recognizable. First the robot, then the meditation posture. From his vantage point on the bench, Haaland was enjoying it.
In a week when Haaland dressed up as Santa Claus to take to the streets of Manchester – his Norwegian accent and height meant he fooled few people – Cherky showed that there are different types of impersonations.
For pep guardiolaThe comparisons were more with Phil Foden or Kevin De Bruyne than Haaland. He said, “Close to the opponent’s 18-yard box he is an extraordinary player, even a blind man can realize it.” “It’s a brilliant goal. I’ve seen goals like this many times with Phil, with Kevin before.” If Cherky’s return of four assists in his last four league matches indicated he was providing the creativity that De Bruyne provided, the Belgian also produced such a brilliant finish.
Cherky is one of a host of arrivals in a year when City have spent almost £350 million on 11 new recruits, but there remains an unbalanced look for a team that has a lone senior specialist centre-forward. If this was a way of suggesting that Haaland is irreplaceable as he gets a rare rest, City suffered brentfordThe back five, with a quintet of attacking midfielders, formed a formation that could be described as a 4-2-4-0 and Cherky, whose shirt number – 10 – indicates his preferred position, was the furthest away among the often rotating false nines.
“If Omar is here we won’t play like that,” Guardiola said. But Omar Marmoush, Haaland’s only natural replacement at City, has gone to the African Cup of Nations with Egypt, so Cherky had a new responsibility.
With the false nine, Guardiola argued that out-and-out wingers were important and Savinho struck in a more fortunate fashion. His goals are few and far between and he produced only his second performance of the season in which he has played 20 games, although it required a great deflection off Haakon Valdimarsson and a sliding Nathan Collins to loop inside.
But in the process, he helped his manager move closer to another record. Guardiola has been level with Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Brian Clough in four League Cup wins over the last four years. With Guardiola getting his rotation right, a fifth player can now come in after the game.
Three weeks ago, he Made 10 changes against Bayer Leverkusensuffered a surprise home defeat and admitted it was too much. This time, there were seven changes and one of four, Cherky, was retained, demonstrating why he wanted a £30 million deal. Guardiola nevertheless balanced praise with criticism. “In the second half, Ryan didn’t do the job he should have done defensively,” he said. That was the reason he was sent off, but Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva and Josco Guardiol came to see the victory.
Foden, perhaps prepared for a similar cameo in the second half, was instead called on as a substitute with 20 minutes to go. oscar bob limped away and allowing teenager Charlie Gray to make a late debut. Guardiola’s policy of mixing youth with senior players on the bench benefited everyone.
brentfordWithout Igor Thiago and Jordan Henderson, there were fewer options. They might still wonder whether it would have been different had they been able to spend more than 70 minutes facing 10 men. Their threat was mainly generated by the pace of Kevin Schaade, and Abdukodir Khusanov was booked for a foul on the German as he chased a long pass. Brentford wanted the punishment to be harsher, arguing that This was a clear goalscoring opportunity deniedBut, without VAR, referee Sam Barrot’s decision stood.
Manager Keith Andrews said, “It was a big moment.” “I’m very quick to defend officers. I’ve never been implicated in any matters during my tenure, but I think they didn’t do the right thing tonight and the explanation for this being so far off target doesn’t fit.”
Brentford’s chance may have been lost due to the yellow card. Subsequently, James Trafford punched away Matthias Jensen’s free kick and saved Vitaly Gennelt’s long-range effort. A clean sheet was welcome for the goalkeeper, whose only two previous appearances for City at the Etihad had come in a 2–0 defeat. Guardiola seemed to be promising them a place in the semi-finals. The city will remain there. Maybe Holland, an audience for them Carabao Cup campaign, will even appear. If not, it may have other implications.