Sergio Aguero scored the only goal in a Manchester City win that all but assured Manuel Pellegrinia s team a place in next seasons Champions League. And following neighbours Manchester Uniteda s third consecutive loss City are also in pole position to avoid the qualifying rounds for the blue riband European competition.
For Tottenham Hotspur it was a match which perfectly summed up their season a good football sometimes even great football but nothing to show for it at the end of 90 minutes. Mauricio Pochettino & Chairmen Daniel Levy have important decisions to make this summer if Spurs are to break this trap of promising a lot but ultimately failing to deliver.
Aguero is the best striker in the Premier League
Eden Hazard might have got the PFA Player of the year award & two strikers in the form of Diego Costa and Harry Kane might have been nominated for the award but a fully fit Aguero is surely the best what the Premiership has to offer. Infact if Aguero had started all of Citya s games like Hazard has for Chelsea then we might surely have been looking at a closer Premier League race.
His goal here served as a perfect reminder of his greatest traits a acceleration, strength and an unerring eye for goal. Following David Silvaa s pass in the inside right channel the Argentine took control of the ball without breaking stride and fired the ball past Hugo Lloris on his near post.
This was a truly instinctive goal from a truly great player.
Eliaquim Mangala enjoying an uninterrupted run of games
Mangala has been roundly criticised in some quarters this season and rightly so. If you cost 40 million quid then people do expect you to hit the ground running. But in centre back terms, at 24, the Frenchman is still young and given that he did not have a proper pre season it would be only fair to judge him next season.
Mangala is clearly profiting from a consecutive run of games following Vincent Kompanya s forced injury layoff and has formed a quite impressive partnership with Marin Demichelis. Infact Mangala can learn from the experiences of his Argentine partner who had a quite forgettable first season at Eastlands but is now probably the most consistent in Manchester Citya s back four.
This weekend the Frenchman looked lively and if he can cut out the mistakes which all young defenders make he definitely has all the raw materials to make a career for himself in Manchester.
Can Pellegrini keep his job
Roberto Mancini won a Premier League title in 2011-12 and followed it up with a 2nd placed finish the next year but was sacked immediately. If the City owners were to follow the same template then Pellegrini would surely be looking at a relaxed summer enjoying a hefty severance package.
With Mancini though there were unconfirmed reports that he had lost the dressing room where as for the Chilean that certainly does not appear the case. But even if Pellegrini does have the support of the dressing room he would still have to convince his Emirati owners that he is the right man to refresh the squad by staying within the FFP guidelines, and also challenge for the title.
Otherwise Jurgen Klopp is always available.
Tottenham Hotspur in a state of inertia
Daniel Levy is a shrewd chairman, perhaps someone whom most profit desiring organizations would love to have at
the helm. A football club though is not just any organization but one which has to measure profit and performance on the pitch equitably. So while Levy is content with getting the maximum value by the sale of Tottenhama s highly prized assets he must now start investing in marquee players as well.
Tottenham would be a good destination for most a A classa footballers as it is based in London, is a team which knows how to play with style and has a good and loyal fan base. But for the player to move Mr. Levy would have to take out his cheque book and start spending. Only then will his club make the transition from potential top 4 to top 4.