Man City 3-1 West Brom: Keeping hope alive

Sergio Aguero seems to have rediscovered his form. The brilliant performance of the Argentine superstar helped Man City keep their title hopes alive with a victory over West Brom.

Zabaleta, Aguero, and Demichelis scored to help Man City continue their pursuit of Liverpool.

GOAL:

Man City: Zabaleta (3'); Aguero (10'); Demichelis (36')

West Brom: Dorrans (16')

The score was 2-0 for the home team after just 10 minutes, with two shots from Sergio Aguero. In the 3rd minute, in what could be considered Man City's first attack of the match, a cross from the right wing by Samir Nasri deflected off a West Brom defender and landed perfectly for Aguero in the penalty area. Aguero controlled the ball with one touch, then unleashed a powerful shot straight at Ben Foster's goal. The West Brom goalkeeper made a spectacular diving save, but it was only enough to push the ball a short distance from the goal. That was where Zabaleta was standing. A header was enough for the Man City defender to comfortably open the scoring.

In the 10th minute, Sergio Aguero officially declared his return after a grueling season: from nearly 30 meters and in a difficult position, Aguero unleashed a superb shot that curled straight into the far corner of the West Brom net, doubling the home side's lead.

The match became infinitely more exciting when West Brom resolutely refused to give up despite falling behind early: they pushed forward relentlessly, and scored a beautiful goal to reduce the deficit. From a failed free-kick by Man City, West Brom launched a quick counter-attack. Midfielder Dorrans displayed a skillful move, dribbling past two Man City defenders to reach the goal and beat goalkeeper Joe Hart. In this situation, besides Dorrans' brilliance, another familiar name came to mind: Martin Demichelis… the king of mistakes in English football. The Man City defenders were far too careless, allowing the opponent to score.

But Demichelis redeemed himself in the 36th minute. From a corner kick on the left wing, the ball unexpectedly landed right in front of the Argentinian center-back, surprising even himself, but he still managed to shoot the ball into the net while completely unmarked.

In the second half, Man City became somewhat complacent, allowing West Brom to create several scoring opportunities. However, the visitors' "nothing to lose" mentality prevented them from scoring further goals. Manuel Pellegrini's team secured three points and continued to harbor their slim hopes of winning the championship, as they remain six points behind Liverpool with a game in hand.

STARTING LINEUP

Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy, Garcia, Fernandinho, Nasri, Silva (Milner 70'), Dzeko (Kolarov 89'), Aguero (Jovetic 64').

West Brom: Foster, Dawson, Olsson, Ridgewell, Jones, Amalfitano, Mulumbu (Morrison 86'), Dorrans, Brunt, Sessegnon (Berahino 76'), Vydra (Anichebe 60').

According to Bongdaplus