Manchester City face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday
Wednesday 20 February 2019 23:22, UK
Manchester City showed their strength in depth as they came from behind to beat Schalke. Is the quadruple now possible?
A goal down and a man down amid a boisterous atmosphere in Gelsenkirchen, Manchester City's Champions League progress really should have been hanging by a thread. Instead, goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling mean their place in the last eight is all but assured and the prospect of that preposterous quadruple continues to loom large.
Make no mistake, this was the sort of evening that would have seen weaker teams lose belief. The penalty decision awarded for handball against Nicolas Otamendi was particularly harsh. The second penalty looked offside. Then came the red card for the Argentine defender. That is when a team can implode as the feeling of injustice sparks indiscipline.
But City were calm enough to see that out. There was a maturity there, seemingly confident enough to know that even a one-goal defeat would not be terminal to their chances back at the Etihad Stadium. Slowly but surely, things turned in their favour and it was Schalke who made the costly errors at the other end. A 3-2 win puts them in total control.
City's quality is in no doubt but the abiding thought after this latest victory is that their strength depth is what really makes the impossible feel possible where Pep Guardiola's team are concerned. Sane's stupendous free-kick was the strike of an elite performer but even he had been denied a spot in the starting line-up on his return to his former club.
Entering the field in the 78th minute, that was all the time that he needed to make his dramatic impact. Such are the options that Guardiola has at his disposal. When Otamendi committed that yellow card offence midway through the second half, the coach was able to turn to club captain Vincent Kompany to steady things at the back.
Gabriel Jesus was not fit enough to make the trip and that left Sergio Aguero as the only striker available. But Sterling has the qualities to play that role now and when Aguero, the scorer of the first goal, was withdrawn, it was he who took up the mantle. His calm finish, capitalising on Bastian Oczipka's mistake, reflected his improvement in front of goal.
Guardiola didn't even need Riyad Mahrez, the club's record signing. He is into double figures for goals this season but remained an unused substitute on this occasion. City can do that when they have four players who have scored more than him. The same can be said of Phil Foden, who scored twice against Newport last time out, but stayed on the bench here.
One or both might return to the fold for the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday, when City's embarrassment riches could mean another embarrassment for Maurizio Sarri. That's followed by a run of three Premier League game that they will need to win to keep up the pressure on Liverpool. But, for all Guardiola's attempts to downplay it, the quad is on.
Having beaten Chelsea 6-0 at the Etihad Stadium earlier this month, City go into the game at Wembley as huge favourites. Sarri's side followed that defeat up with another in front of their own fans at home to Manchester United so confidence in their camp is low. This is a great chance for Guardiola to build momentum with a trophy lift.
City are longer odds for the Premier League title but Sky Bet still make them the odds-on favourites to retain their crown come May. The next two home games are against West Ham and Watford with a trip to Bournemouth sandwiched in between. Given that Liverpool face their two biggest rivals in the meantime, City could be clear favourites very soon.
The return leg against Schalke is some time away in mid-March but it would be a major shock if City do not make it to the quarter-finals for a second successive season under Guardiola. The Catalan coach has always been adamant that there is a lot of luck involved in this competition, but Sky Bet make them the 11/4 favourites to win it nevertheless.
After Schalke, there is a trip to Swansea to take on the Sky Bet Championship side in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. City have already seen off Rotherham, Burnley and Newport in this competition and there will be few backing the Swans to stop City making it to Wembley. With United the only other top-six team left in it, they are already odds-on for the trophy.
