EPL

Late Rodri winner sends Manchester City top of Premier League

By Sports Desk August 27, 2023

Rodri’s late winner clinched Manchester City a hard-fought 2-1 win at Sheffield United and lifted them top of the Premier League.

The City midfielder crashed home a shot from inside the area less than three minutes after Blades substitute Jayden Bogle had cancelled out Erling Haaland’s second-half header with an 85th-minute equaliser.

It was a breathless finish to a game City had dominated – Haaland missed a first-half penalty – but Rodri’s strike finally ended the Blades’ brave resistance and sealed absent manager Pep Guardiola’s 200th win in the English top flight.

With City assistant coach Juanma Lillo in charge of the visitors’ dugout as Guardiola recovers from back surgery in Barcelona, it took 12 minutes for his side to carve out their first chance as Haaland headed straight at Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.

The home side, forced to replace Ben Osborn with summer signing Yasser Larouci in the 17th minute, stuck resolutely to their task as City hogged the ball and patiently probed for an opening.

Foderingham denied the visitors again in the 26th minute by deflecting Alvarez’s shot for a corner.

City were gifted the chance to take a first-half lead when Alvarez’s cross struck John Egan on the arm as the Blades skipper slid in to block and referee Jarred Gillett pointed straight to the spot.

But Haaland failed to convert as his low, left-footed penalty struck Foderingham’s left-hand post.

Blades defender George Baldock was booked for his juddering challenge on Jack Grealish before the interval and the home fans gave their side a standing ovation at the half-time whistle with the score at 0-0.

Lillo stepped out into the technical area for the first time shortly after the restart to see Haaland shank Kyle Walker’s cross inches wide.

There was now more urgency to City’s approach play. Rodri pulled a low effort wide, Foderingham rescued the Blades again by palming Haaland’s dinked effort for a corner and Alvarez lashed Grealish’s lay-off just wide.

Walker then blazed over before City made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute.

Grealish was marshalled by Baldock on the left edge of the area, but made space to clip the ball to the far post and Haaland powered home his third league goal of the season with a towering header.

The Blades responded as substitute Oli McBurnie headed wide from a corner and at the other end Foderingham kept out Mateo Kovacic’s free-kick.

Bramall Lane erupted in the 85th minute when substitute Bogle arrowed a shot inside the far post to haul his side level following an earlier error by former Blade Walker.

But before a crowd of 31,336 could catch breath, Walker made amends by out-muscling Larouci out wide and his cross was lashed home by Rodri after Phil Foden had mis-controlled.

The Blades almost snatched another equaliser when Anel Ahmedhodzic just failed to latch on to McBurnie’s cross, but City held firm to maintain their 100 per cent start.

Related items

  • 'I don't celebrate goals any more' - Postecoglou bemoans VAR after Arsenal defeat 'I don't celebrate goals any more' - Postecoglou bemoans VAR after Arsenal defeat

    Ange Postecoglou admitted "I don't celebrate goals any more" after VAR denied Tottenham during their north London derby defeat by Arsenal.

    Spurs were beaten 3-2 by their rivals, who kept their Premier League title challenge on track, despite a late rally having trailed 3-0 at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

    Trailing 1-0 to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own-goal, the hosts thought they had equalised when Micky van de Ven slotted past David Raya, However, the decision to award the goal was overturned following a VAR review with the defender adjudged to be offside.

    Arsenal took advantage of their let-off with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz increasing their lead, while second-half strikes from Cristiano Romero and Heung-Min Son proved academic for Tottenham.

    "Games aren’t refereed in the stadium any more," Postecoglou told reporters during his post-match press conference. "I don’t celebrate goals any more.

    "You've got to wait for somebody down the road. It’s a shame, I don’t like it, but I’ve got to accept it."

    The Spurs boss was pleased with his side's response after the break, and hopes his players will benefit from the disappointment of losing the derby.

    "It's a big day for our club and our fans, and we didn't get the outcome we wanted, so it's obviously very disappointing," he added on SpursTalk.

    "You can go out in the second half and accept your fate that it's not your day, but we had to show some resilience and fight - just for our supporters more than anything else. To be fair to the lads, they did that.

    "We just lacked some focus today in key moments, particularly in the first half. Sometimes, you've got to feel the pain of it to learn that lesson properly."

  • Arteta was 'praying' Arsenal held on for derby victory Arteta was 'praying' Arsenal held on for derby victory

    Mikel Arteta was "praying" Arsenal clung on as the Gunners held off a late Tottenham fightback to claim a 3-2 north London derby victory on Sunday.

    Arsenal looked to be cruising at 3-0 up after a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg own-goal put the Gunners ahead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, before Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz extended the visitors' lead.

    However, a David Raya mistake allowed Cristian Romero to cut the deficit before a Son Heung-min penalty threw Arsenal's lead into further peril after Declan Rice brought down Ben Davies.

    The Gunners held on, though, despite some late pressure, a period in which Arteta conceded he was fearing the worst.

    "I was praying," Arteta told reporters. "It was a really emotional game.

    "3-0 up you're in control, and then an individual error happens that clicks something. We started to deal with the situation better, but they have the players to put a lot of courage forward."

    Along with the derby day spoils, the win extends Arsenal's lead at the Premier League summit to four points, temporarily at least with closest rivals Manchester City taking on Nottingham Forest later on Sunday in the first of their two games in hand over the Gunners.

    The destination of the title remains in the hands of Pep Guardiola's City, who overtook Arsenal last term to claim a fifth Premier League title in six seasons last term after the Gunners led for much of the way.

    Arteta believes Arsenal are better-equipped this time to go on and win the title, however.

    When asked if Arsenal have the ability to go all the way, Arteta replied: "100%.

    "I’ve seen that the whole season. They give me reason to believe that every single day. The motivation for what is ahead is beautiful."

  • 'We fought until the end' - Saka 'delighted' as Arsenal withstand late Spurs surge 'We fought until the end' - Saka 'delighted' as Arsenal withstand late Spurs surge

    Bukayo Saka saluted Arsenal's fighting spirit as they withstood a late Tottenham revival to claim all three points in the north London derby.

    Mikel Arteta's side prevailed 3-2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to extend their lead at the Premier League summit to four points over second-place Manchester City with three matches remaining, though the Citizens still have two games in hand.

    The Gunners surged into a 3-0 lead before half-time with Saka and Kai Havertz on target after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own-goal broke the deadlock.

    The winger's 15th goal of the season - his highest tally during a single term - saw him become the first English player to score home and away for Arsenal against Tottenham in the same Premier League campaign since Ian Wright in 1993-94.

    However, the visitors given a late scare with Cristian Romero pouncing on David Raya's error to pull a goal back, before Heung-Min Son's 87th-minute penalty set up a grandstand finish.

    Nevertheless, they held on for three points and, though the destiny of the title is out of their hands, their challenge remains very much alive.

    "The last 20 minutes weren't nice, but it was worth it," Saka told Sky Sports.

    "We know it's a big derby, and they don't want to lose 3-0 at home. Once they got one goal, the crowd were up and the momentum shifted their way. But I'm proud of the boys. We fought until the end, and got the three points.

    "We showed our level heads at the end, and I'm proud to get the win. We know what it means to the fans and to us, so we're delighted.

    "This is a massive win for us. We've got three [matches] to go, we're going to give it everything. City are an amazing team, but they're not perfect - nobody's perfect, they can drop points. We just need to do our job and see where it leads us."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.