Yaya Touré played his 316th game for Manchester City in what was a historic occasion both for him and, as it turned out, for the club.
City won the game against Brighton 3-1 and in so doing set a new record for points achieved – 97, goals scored – 105 and wins in a season – 31. These figures will probably change again when they play Southampton in the last game of the season but this is the one where the records were made.
Guardiola’s men will be going all out for the win at St. Marys purely to reach the 100 points tally which would be a record difficult to eclipse and makes them, over one season in the Premier League, better than the Manchester United team of 1999 and better than the Arsenal “Invincibles”. Not too bad for a manager in his second season at the club!
As for Yaya, brother Kolo was on hand to present him with a lifetime season ticket to the club, a framed shirt with the number 316 embossed on the back, which assumes he isn’t playing at the weekend, and a copy of a mosaic of himself celebrating scoring the winning goal in the 2011 FA Cup final which ended City’s 35-years wait for a trophy. The original artwork can be found in the City Football Academy.
Touré has expressed a wish to stay in the Premier League when he finishes with City and has even said he will give back half of any salary to his new club should they not be satisfied with his performances. In truth, when talking top footballer’s salaries, he would still pocket millions even with this gesture, but it’s nice all the same.
So good luck to him in his future career. Although we represent the red side of Manchester we do appreciate what Yaya has brought to City over his eight years at the club.
Meanwhile, across the city…..
Michael Carrick – Prepares to take on a coaching role which will, hopefully, include showing players how to pass the ball to a member of the same team!
Another old man is preparing for his final game, this time for Manchester United. Michael Carrick will play against Watford at Old Trafford before hanging up his boots and joining the coaching staff at Old Trafford.
He hasn’t had quite the same effect on his club as Yaya Toure did over at City but he has still been a great servant over the years. Providing he takes to the field at the weekend he will play his 464th game for the club in a career spanning twelve years which started back in 2006 when he joined from Tottenham Hotspur.
In other United news, the team had the chance to finally cement their second placed finish when playing West Ham United at the London Stadium. A win would see them with an unassailable six points lead over Tottenham Hotspur with only one game remaining and even a point would be enough to secure the runners-up spot.
With six changes made from the debacle against Brighton last Friday, José Mourinho was looking for at least a point to cement his second place in the Premier League.
United were the better team in the first half albeit without creating anything resembling a clear-cut chance. As usual, on most occasions when they had possession, they huffed, puffed and overplayed until they eventually lost the ball. A couple of long range shots were all they had to show for a half which ended 0-0.
They were no better in the second half, in fact they were worse and it was West Ham who improved. Their improvement didn’t involve them actually looking like scoring a goal and the match petered out to end in the 0-0 draw it threatened.
Hopefully, now that second place has been secured we can see some exciting football against Watford on Sunday and an FA Cup final success against Chelsea the following week.
And finally…..
Antonio Conte is still being coy over his future at Chelsea. He is saying all the things he thinks are right to say about how it is more important for the club to finish in the top four than to discuss his situation.
Up until the home draw with Huddersfield Town he may have been right, although it is doubtful. That draw means that a fourth placed finish is about as likely as him being at Stamford Bridge next season!
Antonio Conte – Looks wistfully at an Alitalia plane flying over Stamford Bridge and hopes to be on one soon!
He can now leave in peace and actually tell anybody who is interested what he plans to do. In a similar way to the “will he go or will he stay?” saga with Stubborn Old Man over at Arsenal, this soap opera is about as interesting as a royal marriage between a divorced American actress and a ginger prince bearing little resemblance to the man claiming to be his father. The world will be a slightly better place when it is all finally over.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 