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Michy Batshuayi might be just what Chelsea need, VAR creates fresh farce and Coventry’s on-field outlook brightens at last.
1) Guardiola’s anger at lax refereeing was justified
Cardiff are not the first team to irk Pep Guardiola this season with their aggressive style but the constant fouling and Lee Mason’s conservative use of cards meant Manchester City were lucky to get away with only one injury in their victory at Cardiff City Stadium. Leroy Sané was the victim of a heinous shin-high challenge from Joe Bennett at the end of the first half that was punished only with a yellow card, the Cardiff defender eventually being dismissed in the closing stages of the match for a late lunge on the teenager Brahim Díaz. Guardiola rightly lambasted Mason after the match for leaving his players vulnerable. The best outcome for the Catalan is that this is a turning point in the season for how games are officiated against his team. Referees do not want to ruin games by dismissing players but they are at risk of ruining careers if they do not.
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- Improving Batshuayi offers Conte a solution to striker search**
Antonio Conte was at his diplomatic best following this win, claiming he would be happy even if the club failed to sign a striker this month. Yet it is well known the Italian is desperate for one, with names such as Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch and Edin Dzeko linked with moves to Stamford Bridge in recent weeks. Is it possible, however, that the potent frontman Conte is seeking has been under his nose this whole time? With two goals on Sunday Michy Batshuayi has 10 for the season, making him only the third Chelsea player to hit double figures for the campaign. Cynics will point out that many of his goals have come against inferior opposition but, in Batshuayi’s defence, those have largely been the sides against which he has been pitted. A Belgium international with 11 caps, he clearly has something to offer. “[He is] a powerful player and strong physically,” Conte said. “Michy has improved a lot.”
3) VAR has certainly not eliminated controversy
“It’s hard to know where to start,” said Alan Pardew when asked about the excessive use of the video assistant referee system at Anfield on Saturday. He echoed the thoughts of many. VAR denied West Bromwich Albion a goal and cost them a penalty in their fine FA Cup victory against Liverpool and yet, while ultimatelyit was the correct call on both counts, the flaws of the fledgling system were exposed as an enthralling Cup tie ground to a farce. The delay for each review, players influencing the referee’s decision to use VAR, players and fans openly mocking its use, Craig Pawson employing it not simply for “clear and obvious” errors and, Pardew alleged, breaks in play leading to injury; all were on show at Anfield. It may have added to the entertainment for the television viewer, but for the paying supporter confusion reigned.
4) Krul reminds Newcastle what they have lost
Tim Krul did not have an awful lot to do on a rare outing in Brighton’s goal but the former Netherlands and Newcastle goalkeeper still looked commanding. He also made an important first-half save from Middlesbrough’s Adama Traoré – a winger apparently reborn under Tony Pulis’s tutelage. It begs the question as to whether Rafael Benítez, now desperately seeking a new keeper, was right to let Krul leave Tyneside last summer? Admittedly he took a long time to recover from a nasty cruciate ligament rupture but he now appears fully fit, with only Mathew Ryan’s stellar form keeping him out of the first team. Benítez does not make many mistakes but Krul would surely walk into Newcastle’s starting XI. Until recently Traoré struggled to get on Boro’s teamsheet but Pulis’s apparent determination to remodel the side around his electric, and newly disciplined, talent should be applauded.
5) Beleaguered Coventry fans find reasons to cheer again
Although Sisu, Coventry City’s controversial hedge fund owners, are not going anywhere fast, supporters at least appear to be enjoying themselves again. The 7,833 who travelled to MK Dons were rewarded as Mark Robins’s side sealed a fifth-round place. “They’ve been let down by us more than we’ve been let down by them, that’s for sure,” the Coventry manager said. The captain, Michael Doyle, and fellow bruising midfielder Liam Kelly drove the engine room but it was the 18-year-old academy graduate Tom Bayliss who again stood out. He has been linked with Spurs, while Coventry face a battle to keep hold of the 20-year-old Ben Stevenson, with Wigan and Wolves circling. Three more academy youngsters – Dion Kelly‑Evans, Jordan Shipley and Jordan Ponticelli – have starred in League Two this season, with the club in the play-off mix. Off-field politics still plagues the club but on the pitch at least, there are reasons to be cheerful.
Coventry’s Jordan Shipley celebrates with fans at the end of the match. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images
6) Spurs look in need of an attacker of Moura’s calibre
Mauricio Pochettino pulled no punches in his assessment of Tottenham’s approach to the game at Newport and the impression was of a manager in a hurry for the kind of material reward his reign has not yet brought. “We need to be motivated more,” Pochettino said. “And realise that if we want to do something special we cannot miss an opportunity like today.” This May marks four years in charge and no one will be more aware of the need to crown a successful tenure with some silverware. That made it all the more frustrating that Spurs, particularly in the first half, failed to match Newport’s “motivation, desire and fight”. Fernando Llorente and Moussa Sissoko, in particular, did little to further their causes. Perhaps Paris Saint-Germain’s Lucas Moura, about whom Pochettino was tight-lipped, would add some of the quality they need to push for the Cup.
7) Nolan’s bullishness owes much to Allardyce
After going close to knocking Swansea out of the FA Cup before his League Two side ended up with a 1-1 draw, Kevin Nolan has no qualms that his Notts County side can do the business in the fourth-round replay at the Liberty Stadium next week. “Why should we be fazed? We have enjoyed this, more than matched them so let’s go there and do it again. We will work as a unit, limit their chances and take our own,” said the manager, who continues to take advice from a man he played under at Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle and West Ham. “Sam Allardyce is in touch all the time and I’m sure I will probably speak to him the next couple of days. He probably did send me a good luck note before the game but I haven’t read it. I don’t really read my phone to be honest. We are in constant contact with the gaffer. It very rarely goes past a week or two when we don’t speak.”
Joy for Notts County after their goal against Swansea. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters
8) Barnes is one to watch as Leicester’s rising stars impress
The arguments over Premier League clubs playing their strongest sides in the FA Cup are largely emotional; for almost any top-tier team progressing is preferable to going out, the risk of a weakened side is on them. Claude Puel took that risk by making 10 changes and it came off. Fousseni Diabaté was the most obvious beneficiary, the debutant scoring twice and assisting a third goal. But it was a good day too for Kelechi Iheanacho, who also scored twice, and Harvey Barnes. The latter is an intriguing prospect – golden boot winner during England Under-20s’ triumphant Toulon tournament last summer and a physical, technical presence in the middle of the park. Reminiscent of Ruben Loftus‑Cheek, he appears to be one more prospect ready to play at the top level of the professional game. In Leicester’s new possession-friendly style of play he might just flourish too.
9) Pellegrino must become more positive to win over critics
Although Southampton have offered a few encouraging signs of progress in the past month, the jury is still out on Mauricio Pellegrino as far as supporters are concerned. They booed one of the manager’s substitutions during the third-round victory against Fulham three weeks ago and it happened again when Pellegrino replaced Sofiane Boufal with Maya Yoshida during their 1-0 home victory against Watford on Saturday. Pellegrino argued that he used Yoshida to combat Watford’s direct approach in the second half, but the crowd simply saw the introduction of a third centre-half as evidence of more conservatism. Southampton had been dominating the match, but they ended up clinging on to a 1-0 lead after Boufal’s departure. Pellegrino will not silence the doubters until he becomes more assertive.
10) Hernández bypassed as West Ham’s struggles continue
Only a couple of weeks ago David Moyes was happy with his options up front. At Wigan he had difficulty finding a striker. “We’ve gone from five centre-forwards to none,” he complained. “Suddenly there’s no Sakho, no Carroll, Ayew, Lanzini or Arnautovic. At the moment I’m more interested in getting players fit again than bringing in new signings.” Overlooked in that appraisal was Javier Hernández, understandably so after the most anonymous of performances against Wigan. It is not really the Mexican’s fault. He is the type of striker who needs to be in the penalty box, and West Ham rarely managed that in going out of the Cup to League One opponents. Hernández was merely a passenger in midfield. “Everyone who was fit was on the pitch,” Moyes said. The suspicion is that when West Ham have a few more bodies to choose from, Hernández will be back on the bench.
(GUARDIAN)
