On Wednesday night Pep Guardiola masterminded Manchester City’s cup knockout of Brentford. On Thursday Keith Andrews’ team will train at their facilities and the two managers will enjoy coffee. This is before the Bees’ trip to Wolves on Saturday yet zero niceties were present in City’s professional passage into the semi-finals, where they will play Newcastle, with the first leg at St James’ Park.
Guardiola cites how his team must grow during the season and with each outing greater control and composure is suggested. A sparkling Rayan Cherki scored first, then Savinho followed, only a second goal by the inconsistent 21-year-old this season.
Guardiola offered a mixed message regarding Cherki. “Close to the 18-yard box of the opponent he is an exceptional player, it was a fantastic goal,” he said. “It is not necessary to be a journalist or a manager to realise he is a fantastic player. After that he didn’t play very well.”
A City side featuring only Nico González, Nico O’Reilly, Tijjani Reijnders and Cherki from Sunday’s win at Crystal Palace fired salvos from Cherki and Oscar Bobb early on before calamity struck the latter.
“He complained of a muscular problem,” said Guardiola. The Norwegian youngster was forced off on 18 minutes to be replaced by Phil Foden, who flitted about in pockets in front of Andrews’ back five.
Chelsea v Arsenal or Crystal Palace
Newcastle United v Manchester City
First legs, hosted by Chelsea and Newcastle, will be played w/c 12 January.
Return legs w/c 2 February. Final at Wembley on Sunday 22 March.
City’s big gun had entered just after James Trafford beat away a Mathias Jensen free-kick, claimed when Abdukodir Khusanov brought down Kevin Schade as the No 9 ran away from him.
The centre-back was booked by Sam Barrott meaning he had to be wary. Andrews was not happy. “One I think they didn’t get right – a red card is a big advantage for us,” said the Irishman, who shared a prolonged post-game handshake with Guardiola. Asked if all was OK between them, Andrews said: “Everything is fine as far as I know. We are staying up to focus on the game so we might grab a coffee.”
Guardiola responded pithily to Andrews’ claim Khusanov should have been sent off. “Tomorrow at the training ground, I invite him to the cafe and we will discuss,” he said.
The opener came from direct play. Savinho burned down the left, popped the ball over and a corner was claimed. Divine Mukasa swung the kick in, the ball came to Cherki on the D and, after dummying an onrushing Mikkel Damsgaard, he launched a rocket into the top-right corner.
Joy for Guardiola who turned to the bench to share the emotion. City continued to camp in the visitors’ territory except for sporadic moments of weakness that heartened Brentford. These were down the flanks where Guardiola’s unit is often vulnerable, and when Damsgaard slipped Vitaly Janelt in through an inside-right lane, a scramble ended with Rico Lewis cleaning up, just as he had previously along Brentford’s left.
Andrews drilled his men to close in on City high up for the obvious reason beyond attempting to nick possession: the nearer the game was to the hosts’ goal the further away it was from theirs. But City are masters of escaping any press.
A scan of Guardiola’s XI had suggested Nathan Aké as the “father figure” he declared would be included to avoid the error of the Bayer Leverkusen defeat when 10 changes were made and City lost, 2-0. The 30-year-old had started in that Champions League loss but, as a treble-winner, was the senior player sent out to face the Bees, as signified by him being named City captain for the evening. There could be no arguments regarding the manager’s selection.
Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Matvey Safonov [pictured] saved four penalties in a dramatic shootout as the European champions claimed the Intercontinental Cup title after a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Flamengo in the final.
Luis Enrique's team had taken the lead through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the first half, only for Jorginho to level for the Brazilian side with a penalty shortly after the hour. Safonov denied Saul Niguez, Pedro, Leo Pereira and Luiz Araujo as PSG won the shootout 2-1 despite Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola's misses.
Victory in the annual tournament previously known as the Club World Cup secured PSG's sixth title in 2025, having already won Ligue 1, the French Cup, the French Super Cup, the Champions League and the European Super Cup. Flamengo fell just short of a global title just weeks after securing the Copa Libertadores crown.
PSG initially thought they had taken the lead in Doha when Fabián Ruiz finished after a poor clearance by keeper Agustin Rossi – but VAR ruled that the ball went out of play in the buildup. The breakthrough came in the 38th minute as Desiré Doué's cross was half-cleared by Rossi, allowing Kvaratskhelia to convert.
Flamengo nearly levelled before the interval when Erick Pulgar headed narrowly wide from a corner, but got a golden chance to level when Marquinhos tripped Giorgian De Arrascaeta in the box. Jorginho sent Safonov the wrong way with the resulting penalty to equalise in the 62nd minute.
João Neves and Doué had chances as PSG pushed for a second, while Flamengo offered a threat on the break. Marquinhos missed a late chance to atone for conceding a penalty, but miskicked from close range. PSG dominated extra time but were held off by the Brazilians, only to prevail on penalties. Reuters
Keep-ball is a central tenet of Guardiola’s tactics so he will have been delighted. In separate phases those in sky blue moved upfield in waves.
One culminated in a Savinho burst and a shout – turned down – from the Brazilian for a penalty when Kristoffer Ajer challenged him. Another featured an O’Reilly shot that was easy for Hákon Valdimarsson to gather; another a foray into the area from Savinho, now operating on the right.
How might Brentford respond? A dipping Janelt effort from range that Trafford flew to his right to save was a first answer. A Schade dart down the middle, which Khusanov this time stymied masterfully, the second.
Just as accomplished was a slick Foden chestdown and snapshot, which bounced off the turf. Valdimarsson’s reflexes were equal to it.
Guardiola then made a triple change – Josko Gvardiol for O’Reilly, Bernardo Silva for Cherki, and Matheus Nunes for González – but it was a player who remained, Savinho, who doubled the lead: released down the left he sprinted in on goal and beat Valdimarsson with a deflected finish that chipped the Iceland international. City’s near-stranglehold remained until the end.
