Against Chelsea at the Etihad, Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero was withdrawn through injury.
There are few things that say “typical City” more than approaching a run of crucial games without first choice attacker, Sergio Aguero. There is a refreshing familiarity about Manchester City, that despite the highest value squad in World football, there is still the capacity to play with one hand tied behind their backs.
Sometimes we have always needed a handicap to boost our team into higher performance levels so maybe what happened in the Chelsea game may actually serve to spur us on in the weeks to come.
Some 15 minutes before the end of the game, Aguero started to hobble, seeming to hold his thigh he indicated his discomfort to the bench and was duly withdrawn.
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He then embarked on the longest walk off a pitch I have ever seen a player make, ignoring the protests of Chelsea players, and with a wry smile on his face.
Still we hoped he was just bluffing and would bounce into the post match interviews with customary cheeky humour. Alas, it was not to be.
Pep Guardiola emerged to tell the waiting media after the match that Aguero had suffered a muscle injury, although the full extent was not yet known. Nevertheless, Guardiola indicated he was concerned to lose such an important player at such a key moment in the season.
Aguero has suffered muscular problems before, and as an explosive power player, his recovery is always somewhat laboured. Even when he returns to action after injury, it tends to take him 2 or 3 games to get back up to his best levels.
Even a relatively short injury lay off will see City having to manage with just one striker in the run up to the festive fixtures. We wish Aguero all the bestvfor his recovery.
The City injury list is becoming a significant issue for the season, suggesting the footballing gods are not smiling upon us. Right now we have the following players injured;
Rodri, David Silva, Leroy Sane, Aymeric Laporte, Oleks Zinchenko, Sergio Aguero.