Manchester City: Stupid decision sees Sergio Aguero handed three-game ban
Sergio Aguero is set to miss Manchester City’s next three games after receiving a retrospective ban from the English FA.
Sergio Aguero has been handed a three-game ban for an incident during Manchester City’s game against West Ham United on Sunday, the English FA have announced. The Manchester City striker was found guilty of violent conduct after video evidence of Aguero seeming to elbow Hammers defender Winston Reid was reviewed.
Aguero and Reid were jostling for position when the incident took place and the striker appeared to throw an intentional elbow into the face of the defender. The referee for the game, Andre Marriner, claimed not to see the clash, which then opened the door for the FA to react after the event.
Aguero will now miss City’s next three games, despite contesting the FA charge. The Argentine will be absent for City’s crunch derby clash with rivals Manchester United on Sept. 10. In addition to the derby, Aguero will also miss a home Premier League game against Bournemouth and a League Cup road trip to play Swansea City.
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The clash with Reid looked bad on TV. However, it didn’t really seem like Aguero intended to elbow his opponent in the face. The striker looked like he was aiming a blow to strike Reid, but it looked more like a reactionary, blind swing in the defender’s general direction. Not necessarily a direct, intentional punt to the face.
Still, you cant be swinging your elbows around and striking opponents. Heat of the moment or not. It was a stupid decision by Aguero. A decision which will now have implications on his teammates and manager Pep Guardiola. City and United are looking like two of the strongest contenders for the Premier League this year.
And Aguero will now miss one of the biggest games of City’s season. United have started the campaign efficiently themselves, if not sparkling, with three wins from three games. Manchester City will have a tough task ahead of them looking for a result at Old Trafford without Aguero.
The City defense has looked flaky when put under pressure so far this season, and the pressure is only going to be hotter against United. Zlatan Ibrahimovich has been in fantastic form and now City will be without Sergio Aguero to counteract that with their own maestro at the other end.
Guardiola will have to re-evaluate how best to set up his team in the absence of his talisman. It makes things a lot harder than they might have been for the Citizens, and hands a giant boost to United and Jose Mourinho.
A costly error by Aguero. But how costly remains to be seen.