The Harry Kane Effect

Now, this isn't going to be one of those posts where I sit and gush about this particular player like he owns the world. But unless you've been living under a rock, it's hard to not know anything about the young player that is taking England by storm.

The obvious place to start is that he has only been a part of the Spurs set up for less than 6 months and he got his first England full team call up at the beginning of the week. Everyone was expecting him to start the match, and he probably should have due to the season that he's having, but had to wait to make his full debut. Plus, to top all of this off, I don't think any other substitution has had such an anticipated entrance or a bigger ovation as they walked onto the pitch. 

He has already scored 34 goals this season, 29 of those being for Spurs and the other 5 for the England under 21's, but that isn't the only ability that he relies on. His hold up play and his pressing of the defenders is everything that an opposition defender hates in a player. It has been said that he has worked extremely hard on his game by a lot of people who he works with, and it is paying off greatly for him, much to the excitement of England fans around the country.

However, people may be calling for his full team debut to happen in the game against Lithuania, but it's almost as if they forget who else is in the team. He has to battle against Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Raheem Sterling and Theo Walcott for his starting place, but I'm sure he's relishing this challenge, just as much as the rest of the dream. Rooney is chasing down a record of most goals scored in an England shirt (47 goals now, after he scored against Lithuania) and he is also the captain of the team, but a partnership between the two would look to be deadly to their oppositions. 

In the build-up to the game, he was the first name on everybody's lips and audiences all around the country were ready to see the man in action on the international stage. People were predicting at which point during the game he would come on and what kind of impact he would have when he finally pulled on that England shirt for the first time. Still, at half time with the home team 2-0 up, it only made the anticipation higher as England were in control and he would have the chance to build upon the success that his team was experiencing. 

Then, finally, he was ready. The only thing holding him back now was the fact that the ball didn't come off the pitch for 7 minutes after he was ready to enter the field. And the impact everyone had been waiting for since the team sheet was announced? Well, that arrived within the first 80 seconds of his game, after he'd taken just 3 touches...

Sterling's assist came down perfectly for Kane, who put just enough power behind his header to get it over the line, despite the best efforts of the keeper. His movement off the ball during the build-up to the goal was what caught out the defender that he was tracking. He hovered along the left side of the 6 yard box for quite a long time before the ball was ever crossed into the box, but the defender didn't get close to him even when the ball did finally come towards. Nothing can be taken away from Kane though, and after the season he's having, I don't think anyone will be surprised by what happened for him. 

Everything that he touches at the minute seems to turn to gold without him having to try too hard. Roy Hodgson did say after the game that he didn't want to put too much pressure on Kane by saying that he was going to be a true England player and an important one for them in the future, and he possibly has a point. If people truly want to see the best of him in the upcoming games, for both club and country, people should just enjoy watching his talents instead of piling pressure onto his performance. After the season he's had, it looks like he's going to be comfortable no matter where he is performing. 

MATCH REPORT: Barcelona vs Manchester City [Champions League]

After the first leg, it looked like Manchester City had a huge mountain to climb, based more off the performance than the actual score line. Barcelona won 2-1 at the Etihad stadium, leaving City with the task of scoring 2 goals to take them through to the quarter finals of the competition, all the while keeping the front three of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez out. Joe Hart had given his team a lifeline at the end of the first leg with a save from Messi's penalty, but would it count in this leg?

City did start brightly and were pushing forward to try and nick the ball from their opponents so that they could push forwards. However, the first chance of the game did fall to Neymar. Vincent Kompany lost the ball on the edge of the box to Dani Alves and played in Neymar, whose shot bounced off the near post and rolled along the goal line before going wide of the near post, leaving many people wondering how it didn't go in.

City didn't sit back and let Barcelona play though. Sergio Aguero got the first chance for City after he was allowed time and space on the ball and his shot eventually hit Alves before going out for a corner. The next attack was pure class from Barcelona. The players passed it among themselves with ease and the City players couldn't get close to the ball no matter how hard they tried, before Messi and Andres Iniesta played a great one-two in the box, but Messi's shot was saved by the legs of Hart. 

Yaya Toure powered through the Barcelona players to get the ball into the box and onto the feet of Milner. His shot was stopped by Alves, who was off balance, but just managed to time his tackle right to prevent a possible goal. Down the other end, Messi won a free kick moments later and his shot was curling up towards the top corner, but much to Hart's relief it landed on top of the net instead of nestling inside of it. Ten minutes later, Messi was presented with a similar chance from another free kick. So similar in fact that it landed in practically the same place on top of the net as the last one had. 

The game was shaping up to be a tight contest, and just after the half hour mark, Ivan Rakitic managed to give the hosts some breathing space over their opposition. Messi played a beautiful ball into the box from the right wing which took out the City defenders, and Rakitic, whose run was timed perfectly, chested the ball down and gracefully chipped the ball over the head of Hart and into the back of the net. 

The rest of the first half was all about Barcelona. From a corner in the build-up to half time, Suarez was allowed into a lot of space in the box, but he could only direct his free header off target. Three minutes later, Suarez was allowed a lot of space again from Kompany and Martin Demichelis. Hart came running out of his goal to try and stop the shot, but Suarez chipped the ball over the keeper. The defender running back couldn't catch up to the ball and people supporting City let out a collective sigh of relief as the ball bounced off the far post and out for a goal kick.

City came out for the second half, knowing that they still needed at least two goals to stand a chance of getting past the tie, but they just couldn't get a foot to the ball to try and make this happen. Iniesta had the first chance of the second half on 46 minutes with a powerful shot from outside the box which Hart palmed away before eventually keeping it in his grasp. Jordi Alba had a chance shortly after from close range, which Hart closed down and deflected out towards Messi. Messi's shot looked like it could go in, but Hart got back across the goal in time to palm the shot away. 

In the 57th minute, the Barcelona play became quite risky as Marc-Andre ter Stegen is taken outside his box after a heavy touch, however, he isn't quick enough to clear it and Aguero dispossessed him. They couldn't capitalise on this though and Gerard Pique is in the right place to clear the deflected cross. City got the chance to counter attack through David Silva and Aguero and the play looked dangerous until Aguero got the cross into the box and the ball is cleared without much hassle. 

The next period of play was literal end to end play. Barcelona finally got another chance in front of goal, through Suarez who tried to cut the ball across goal but could only fire the ball into the near side netting. Jesus Navas pushed the ball forward and travelled with the ball until he reached the right side of the six yard box but didn't take on the shot, instead he tried to cut the ball back but there were no City players to get on the end of it and the ball is cleared. Neymar lead the Barcelona counter attack and played in Messi who had lost both of the defenders alongside him. His first touch took him too close to Hart who directed him away from goal and took away the chance. The corner that followed landed at the feet of Messi once again, but Hart once again was ready for the chance and swept the ball away from his feet to make sure nothing could follow. 

Messi was once again orchestrated a Barcelona chance as he played the ball into the box to Neymar, who managed to get a touch to the ball but couldn't direct it past Hart. Alba stepped up to collect the follow-up and placed the ball into the back of the net but the flag rightly went up denying Barcelona a second goal of the game. Neymar did have another chance minutes later as he was slipped in behind the City defence. He was left one-on-one with Hart who did well to save the shot. 

The 78th minute could have proved to be the turning point of the tie for City. Aguero was running into the box, but ran into trouble in the shape of Pique and Javier Mascherano. Mascherano did catch Aguero meaning that the referee made the right choice in giving them the penalty. Aguero steeped up to take the penalty and aimed the ball to the right of the keeper and ter Stegen was lucky it was at the perfect height for him to palm the ball away. Although, it did turn the tie into the tale of two missed penalties: Messi in the first tie and Aguero in the second. If the ball had hit the back of the net then the last ten minutes could have been completely different.

Neymar had another chance to score a goal after he was left one-on-one with Hart once again, but Hart was confident throughout the match and came out from his goal line to take the ball off the feet of the Barcelona forward. Suarez had a couple of chances in quick succession, the first of which was aimed across goal which Hart saved, but could only send the ball towards Messi whose chance was blocked by the defenders. Suarez got to the ball first following that chance and could only direct his ball onto the crossbar, but was rightly judged to have come back from an offside position. 

In the final moments of the match, Neymar crossed the ball from the left side of the six yard box after leading a counter attack which Barcelona looked to be the stronger team during. He played the ball to Messi and Hart got across goal to smother the final shot. The game finished how it started with a chance from Neymar, this time his shot was aimed straight at Hart who pushed the ball out to ultimately finish the game. 

It could have been a lot worse for City during the tie if it wasn't for their keeper. Hart managed to tally up a total of 10 saves in the match at the Nou Camp alone, saving his team the embarrassment of a goal fest during the match. It does still look like City have a lot of work to do before they will go past this round in Europe, with their play looking laboured at times and they were a team that looked like they lack self-belief. However, take nothing away from Barcelona, as once again they showed what a beautiful game football can be. 

MATCH REPORT: Chelsea vs Southampton

On paper, this match looked like it would be a good contest between two teams at the right end of the table, with two of the best defences in the league coming up against each other. However, Chelsea had a really bad result in the week against Paris Saint-Germain which they would be looking to bounce back quickly from and Southampton haven't had a great time against the top sides in the league this season. Chelsea also had the added incentive of being able to go 8 points clear at the top of the Premier League table after Manchester City suffered a shock defeat to Burnley yesterday. 

Southampton did start the game brightly though, and pushed forward each time that they had the ball. The forward pass didn't necessarily come off straight away, but it did give Chelsea an early warning to how dangerous their opposition could be. Even still, Chelsea definitely started the strongest and were having the clearest chances out of the two. Cesar Azpilicueta had the first chance of the game as he came inside from the left side, but his shot was always curling high and wide of the crossbar. Two minutes later, Eden Hazard led a Chelsea break through, but didn't go straight for goal, opting instead to play around the Southampton defence first. Eventually, the ball landed at the feet of Willian who took on the shot from a very tight angle, but Southampton cleared the danger at the cost of a corner. 

It didn't take long for the Chelsea pressure to come off though as Hazard was at the centre of a Chelsea attack once again. He spread the play out to Branislav Ivanovic on the right side and his cross sailed over the Southampton defence before Diego Costa jumped highest and fired the ball past Fraser Forster with practically no pressure around him or the ball. This was exactly the start that Chelsea were looking for to bounce back after their latest setback in midweek. 

Southampton didn't let this faze them though, and seemed to become stronger after Chelsea took the lead. Ryan Bertrand led a Southampton and played in Dusan Tadic. He found Victor Wanyama inside the box, and he aimed his shot low but straight at Thibaut Courtois who got down well to deal with the shot, but he could only palm it away to Tadic, whose follow-up shot isn't far away from nestling itself into the top left corner of the net. 

On 18 minutes, Sadio Mané made a determined run into the Chelsea penalty area, but is stopped by Nemanja Matic who takes the forward down in the box, leaving the referee with the only option of awarding a penalty. Tadic stepped up the kick, and he was extremely calm about it as he aimed his shot down the centre of the goal. Courtois does get a leg to the ball, but can't do enough to stop the ball from finishing up in the net. Southampton had deserved to score at this point, and it all looked to be going away from Chelsea once again. 

Southampton only got stronger as the half carried on, as not long after the goal, Tadic was in on goal once again. His powerful shot from outside of the box struck Gary Cahill on the arm on its way through towards goal, but he was too close for a foul to be given. As they went for the follow-up shot, the player was caught offside, but Chelsea couldn't get out of their half of the pitch. Tadic found himself in a lot of space down the left on the half hour mark after he was played in by Shane Long, but his half volley was easily dealt with by Courtois. The Southampton pressure wasn't over yet though as Bertrand crossed the ball into the box and a mix up between Courtois and Cahill almost gifts them a goal, but they just manage to get it clear and avoid a further embarrassment. 

Chelsea did get a final chance just before the whistle blew for half time. Cesc Fabregas puts a good ball into the box after a long spell of Chelsea possession. Costa gets up higher than Jose Fonte and gets his head to the ball, but can only watch as his header loops over the crossbar. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't build on this straight after the second half started. Chelsea made a sloppy start to the second half and Matic quickly gave away a free kick in a dangerous position. He was lucky to not receive a second yellow card for the late challenge. The free kick was taken by Toby Alderweireld and he forced Courtois to pull off a brilliant save to deny his team the lead. 

Chelsea grew into the game after this and began to put a lot more pressure on the Southampton defence as they chased the goal that would win them the game. Costa had another chance to double his goal tally for the game, but his shot hit the woodwork before bouncing back into play. Southampton couldn't clear their lines though and he had another chance not long after, this time for an overhead kick which was blocked.

After the warning signs from Chelsea, Southampton still weren't ready to sit back and defend for the rest of the match and Tadic proved this when he brushed past 3 Chelsea defenders to create space for Long in the box. Cahill was once again in the right place to make an important block for his team. This proved to be the last big chance for Southampton though, as Chelsea began to build up the pressure again. 

Forster was incredible in goal for the last quarter of the match, in particular when he pulled off a double save to deny Chelsea. The first was a header from Oscar which just hits Forster who is lucky he was in the position he was, but the follow-up from Hazard produced a good reflex save from the keeper who turned it off the post for a corner. Only a few minutes later, Oscar had another good chance with nobody around him in Southampton colours, but his shot is well saved by Forster who sticks out his left arm. 

In the final minutes of the game, Azpilicueta had another chance from the left, and his curling shot almost caught out Forster at his near post, but he got down well to smother the chance. The corner which followed this caused a lot of problems for Southampton as the initial shot is saved by Forster, but John Terry is on hand to collect the rebound, but that shot is blocked as well. He did get another chance to win the game for his team in the final minute but he could only take a wild swing at the ball that went wide of the far post. 

This means that Chelsea now have a 6 point gap at the top, but still hold an advantage over Man City as they also have a game in hand. If they want to win the league and look confident while doing so, they will certainly need to make some improvements to certain parts of their game; otherwise the title race could be thrown wide open once again. But take nothing away from Southampton. They defended the point that they won extremely well during the second half and completely deserved the result they got today. It could be important for their race to be in the top four as well, who knows?

MATCH REPORT: Chelsea vs Paris Saint Germain [Champions League]

The first leg between Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain ended in a 1-1, with Chelsea scoring that all important away goal. That left PSG with the task of getting at least one goal in the match to stand any chance of staying in the competition. Chelsea, however, could still go through to the quarter finals if the score stayed at 1-1. On paper, it looked to be an interesting game, but would it play out that way?

The game had a quick start to it by both sides. The ball was being passed around quickly, but never in the end third of the pitch where some early damage could be caused. On the 5 minute mark, Eden Hazard got one on one with Javier Pastore and crossed the ball into the box. The cross was aimed towards Cesc Fabregas, who was beaten to the cross and the chance as cleared away. 

PSG were having quite a few chances to get the ball into the box, but the chipped cross they tried over the defence didn't work and they had trouble getting the ball past the first man from set pieces. If they did, Thibaut Courtois was equal to everything the players could throw at him. On the other side, Chelsea were getting a lot of joy down their left hand side. Thiago Silva was scared to get too close to any of Chelsea's attacking players, allowing them to create a few half chances. 

The first big talking point of the game came just after the 30 minute mark. Both Oscar and Zlatan Ibrahimovic went in for a tackle, both going in recklessly, but Oscar seemed to come off a lot worse. The Chelsea players swarmed around the referee in protest, but although to an outsider it could look like they helped to sway the referee's decision, it seemed that he had already made his mind up. He walked straight over to the player and showed him the red card, leaving PSG a man down, and still in need of that away goal. 

This seemed to boost Chelsea's morale for the rest of the first half. Oscar had a good chance as he came inside from the left onto his right foot and curled a shot towards goal, but Salvatore Sirigu was in the right position to catch the ball. Chelsea also had a penalty shout as the half came to a close when Edison Cavani clipped the ankle of Diego Costa who went down with the challenge. The referee waved away the shout, much to the annoyance of Costa, who just before had been on a brilliant run that saw him brush off three or four PSG defenders. 

The game was extremely scrappy and a lot of challenges were going in, including a lot of heavy tackles, which only seemed to continue into the second half. The way things were going, it wouldn't have been surprising if more than one player had been sent off before the night was over. 

Chelsea started the second half the way they finished the first; strongly. Willian took a free kick from just outside the box, but couldn't get a good enough connection to look like it would cause any problems. Sirigu, however, looked extremely nervous as he anxiously palmed the ball away from the goal and out for a corner, when he should have been able to catch the ball. Ten minutes later, PSG had turned the game on its head. Chelsea looked tired and were walking through the game instead of closing down the ball like they had been at the beginning of the game. Cavani, who was onside, was slipped in behind the Chelsea defence and Courtois came out early to try and close down the angle, but he can't smother the shot. The left footed shot bounced off the near post and goes agonisingly wide of the far post. It should have been a PSG goal. 

Considering that PSG had been playing the game with 10 men since the half hour mark, you couldn't really tell. Chelsea still weren't playing the type of game that Premier League fans had been seeing all season, they were extremely slow, and allowing the opposition to play around them. The game was still feisty though, and temperatures were rising as they normally would in an important game. 

10 minutes from full time, Chelsea had another chance which Willian played a part in creating. He slipped in Ramires on the right side of the box, but he closed down the angle, and it took the slightest of touches from Sirigu to turn the ball onto the post and out for a corner; a corner which proved to be very important and totally against the run of play. The PSG defenders just couldn't deal with the cross and the ball bounced around in the penalty box until it landed at the feet of Gary Cahill. He took the shot sweetly on the half volley and powered the ball into the back of the net, giving Sirigu no chance at saving it. 

Chelsea sat back again after their goal though and weren't putting any pressure on the ball to try and protect their lead. Ezequiel Lavezzi almost made an instant impact when he took his shot on goal, but the ball was aimed straight at the keeper. On the 86th minute, the game was turned on its head. An out-swinging corner into the Chelsea box landed on the head of a former player, David Luiz. He lost his marker and got up higher than the other players to power his header past Courtois, sending the game into extra time. Before that could happen though, Chelsea could have seen their team go down to 10 men as well. Costa, who had already been booked earlier in the game for a rash challenge on Silva, pushed a PSG player to the ground in anger, but luckily for him, the referee had turned his back and didn't see the incident, otherwise his team could have been in even more trouble. 

In the 6th minute of extra time, a moment of stupidity gifted Chelsea the lead once again. Silva jumped to challenge Didier Drogba for the ball and put his hand up in the air which saw him make contact with it before Drogba got his head onto it. Hazard stepped up to take the penalty, and as usual, calmly slotted the ball down the centre of the goal when Sirigu dived to his left. Could Chelsea hold onto their lead this time?

It didn't look like they could. Luiz had a brilliant chance through a free kick which caused Courtois some problems as it looped up over the wall and looked to be bouncing over him into the back of the net. He managed to get a hand to it and turn it over the crossbar though. 20 minutes later, set pieces were still causing Chelsea all sorts of problems. Silva in particular looked dangerous as he looked to make up for his earlier mistake. His header was low, but Courtois got down and palmed the ball away for another corner. This time, they couldn't defend it though. Silva was stood just to the right of the penalty box when this cross came in and he jumped higher than John Terry to fire his header past Courtois and into the back of the net. After almost losing the tie for his team by giving away a penalty, he had just scored the away goal that took them through to the quarter finals. 

Chelsea didn't have it in them to retaliate and after looking so strong in the first leg, a lot of people had thought that Chelsea would be the name in the draw for the next round. If this is the way that the top team in England is challenging in Europe now though, it doesn't look like it's going to be a good tournament for our home teams this year. For a lot of the game, Chelsea were slow in possession and closing down of the ball and looked like they were the team with 10 men, not their oppositions. 

FA Cup Quarter Finals [2015]

The final ties in the FA Cup are ultimately the most important. Four teams can show their worth and get the chance to play in the biggest stadium in England, at Wembley. There were some great ties on show this weekend, but would they produce the performances and the results that would turn the eyes of fans across the country?

The weekend started off with a game between the dark horses of the competition, Bradford, against Championship side Reading. Both teams showed a lot of commitment and character within the game, as would be expected with a prize like a semi-final at Wembley at stake. Bradford were definitely the brighter of the two sides and almost clinched a winner through Oliver Norwood with only a few minutes left on the clock, but it just wasn't meant to be. The affair was quite scrappy in the beginning, but the League 1 side were certainly ready for a tie like this. Both sides had some good chances that they just couldn't make the most of, earning them a replay at Reading, and a chance for both teams to make history. End score: 0-0.

Saturday evening saw a Midlands derby take place between Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion. The sides met earlier in the week in a Premier League tie, and this saw Villa battle to a 2-1 win. This game started slow and took a while for both sides to grow into. The passing was quite sloppy and there was no cutting ball when it got into the final third. West Brom did have a couple of good chances, one from Brown Ideye and the other from Joleon Lescott. They didn't get the opener they desperately chased, and instead Fabian Delph took the opportunity he was presented with to put Villa ahead just into the second half. Scott Sinclair doubled the lead for Villa 5 minutes from time and put the tie beyond the opposition. Both teams finished the game on 10 men as the game finished extremely scrappily. Claudio Yacob saw red for what looked like a two footed stamp on a Villa player. Teenager Jack Grealish saw got his second yellow for what the referee judged to be a dive, but this red card didn't affect the result of the game. End score: 2-0.

Liverpool hosted Blackburn in the only kick off on Sunday. Blackburn kept up a spirited performance throughout the game, keeping a good shape and having some of the best chances throughout the first half, especially through Rudy Gestede. The game started in the worst possible way for Liverpool as Martin Skrtel hit the ground and was out cold for about 5 minutes, he was eventually was stretchered off the field, but not before giving a thumbs up to the surrounding crowd to show he was okay. Kolo Toure, his replacement, had one of the best chances of the game as he saw his header rattle the post but not hit the back of the net like he had hoped. Blackburn did well for themselves though, with Gestede proving to be too much to handle in many cases, but the Liverpool defence managed to keep him out. The replay between the two will hopefully prove to be another tight encounter. End score: 0-0.

Easily the tie of the round was between Manchester United and Arsenal. Both sides were quite sloppy in possession throughout the game, but some good sets of play were put together to create some chances. Arsenal did well to push forward as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ran at the United defence and took three players out of the game, leaving Nacho Monreal in lots of space in the box to calmly slot the ball past David de Gea who was coming out to close him down. The lead only lasted 4 minutes though, as United pushed forward and got Angel Di Maria on the ball. His inch perfect cross was met by the head of Wayne Rooney whose shot was too fast for Wojciech Szczesny to get his hand to. It was a feisty affair, not short of passion as would be expected in a game between these two sides, and it took a poor back pass from Antonio Valencia to present former Manchester United player, Danny Welbeck, with a chance to round off the game. This wasn't the end of the tale though, as Di Maria was later booked for simulation and in a moment of madness tugged on the referee's shirt, resulting in a red card being produced seconds after his booking. This set Arsenal on their way to their second FA Cup semi-final in the same amount of seasons after a brilliant contest between the two. End score: 1-2.  

Two replays still to go ahead after four of the teams failed to score on their first try. Both were good contests the first time round, so who knowswhat will happen and who will be facing the two Premier League clubs at Wembley soon. Only time will tell I guess...

MATCH REPORT: Liverpool vs Manchester City

The top two teams of last season's campaign came face to face again for the second time this season. In the reverse fixture at the very beginning of this season, Manchester City came out on top. Both teams needed to bounce back from a midweek European defeat, but which team would prevail?

The City players started brightly and within 3 minutes of the game had their first chance. Edin Dzeko brushed off the challenge from Emre Can and fed in Sergio Aguero, who was ruled offside before he could get his shot away. City kept pushing high and looked a lot more alert than Liverpool, possibly due to the fact that they had a long game in the Europa League in Istanbul on Thursday. 

Liverpool finally managed to get off the mark on the 9th minute after Adam Lallana was allowed a lot of space in the opposition box, but his shot was aimed straight at Joe Hart. Only a minute later, the ball landed at the feet of Lallana again. From the left hand side of the 6 yard box, right next to the goal post, it looked like nothing would come of the chance, but he managed to curl his foot around it and take his shot up and over Hart and into the top corner of the net. However, he was correctly judged to be offside, meaning that the goal didn't count. 

Liverpool kept on the pressure though. In the 11th minute of the game, City's defensive frailties became apparent once again as Vincent Kompany lost the ball to Philippe Coutinho meaning that his run towards the box happened easily. He gave the ball to Raheem Sterling who found Jordan Henderson on the edge of the box in a lot of space. He made sure that his shot curled around the defender and just out of the reach of Hart to nestle in the top right corner of the net. It is definitely a goal that lives up to the captains arm band that he has been wearing recently, meaning there could be more of that type of goal to come in the future. 

This seemed to be a wakeup call for City. David Silva was being instrumental in the City midfield during the first half, and not long after the Liverpool goal, he played a long ball up field to Aguero, which caused problems for the Liverpool keeper and defenders alike. Simon Mignolet decided not to go and get the ball, leaving Aguero with the chance to shoot, which he took. His shot was missed by Mignolet, but he couldn't quite get the angle right and saw the ball bounce off the far post.

It wasn't only the Liverpool defenders with the problems though. Kompany struggled to keep up with the pace of the game throughout and looked tired when he was faced with an opposition player, but on the flip side, the attacking players struggled as well. City couldn't get on the ball for long periods of time during the match and when they did, their attacks fizzed out before they could cause any problems.

Just before the half hour mark, they finally managed to put a brilliant piece of attacking play together that fully paid off. The attack started after Samir Nasri dispossessed one of the City defenders to play in Silva. He made a brilliant pass up to Aguero, who he picked out wonderfully, and all it took was a simple pass through the Liverpool defence to get Dzeko on the ball, leaving him to only slot the ball past Mignolet and into the back of the net. 

The end of the first half was dominated by Liverpool though. Lazar Markovic played a through ball past the City defenders and into Lallana who was in a great position, but he couldn't get the shot right and he dragged it wide of the far post. Coutinho had another chance not long after which he tried to curl around Hart, but in the end it was an easy catch for the keeper. On the stroke of half time, Sterling was left with a lot of space around him in the box, and even after he got dispossessed, he still managed to get his shot away, but Hart was equal to it again. 

City came out for the second half with all guns blazing. They were on the attack within the first minute through Pablo Zabaleta who found Aguero in the centre of the box. His header was just too high, but it looked like it would set the tone for the rest of the match, but it didn't...

After the first half, it looked like both teams were struggling to find a defining moment within the game that would give them the winner. Both teams had chances with the ball to push the opposition back and create clear cut chances, but they just couldn't do it. Lallana did have a second goal disallowed in the second half, this time for a foul committed by Martin Skrtel on Dzeko before the ball was put into the back of the net. The half was really defined for the most part by defensive errors and chances not taken. 

It took until the 75th minute for the next piece of outstanding play to happen. This time the goal came from Coutinho, who scored his goal from a similar place to where Henderson had been in for his. His curling shot beat Hart, who had no chance of saving the goal, and the Liverpool fans once again saw the ball nestle into the top corner of the net. 

Aguero had a chance straight after the Liverpool goal, just like he did in the first half. He was closed down to a tight angle, which wouldn't normally stop him from scoring, but this time he could only direct the ball across the face of goal and wide past the far post. City were still pushing for a goal into stoppage time. Yaya Toure used his strength to get through the challenges from the Liverpool players, and plays in Silva, but his shot is high and wide over the crossbar. The final chance of the game fell to Aguero; the one player on the pitch that everyone believed could score the equalising goal. It was very similar to Silva's chance just before, meaning that it sailed high over the crossbar and into the crowd.

This left the gap between Manchester City and Chelsea at 5 points for now, but Chelsea weren't playing a Premier League game this weekend due to the Capital One Cup final, meaning that the gap could be even bigger when their game in hand has been played. However, Liverpool's win brought them above Southampton into 5th place, meaning the race for the top four was heating up, and it is anybody's call who will be in those Champions League places come the end of the season...