FOOTBALL UPDATE

It was a physical encounter with the home side’s players being on the receiving end, in comparison to previous matches involving Man City, of some hefty challenges. Ashley Barnes, Sam Vokes, Nick Pope and Phil Bardsley all had to receive treatment in the first-half for various niggles but thankfully were all okay to continue. Manchester City continued their theme of dominancewhich was visible against Cardiff and West Brom, seeing the vast majority of possession and chances in the first 45 minutes but unusually lacked the final product to take advantage. Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan couldn’t connect well with balls from Bernardo Silva as the 'Sky Blues' would go on to rue these missed chances. As Sean Dyche’s team has one of the best defences in the Premier League,  it appeared as if only a sensational goal would break the deadlock this time around. Pep Guardiola's side did ...

  Kevin De Bruyne slammed James McClean for a crude attempted tackle in Wednesday's feisty clash between Manchester City and West Brom, saying the "ball wasn't in the neighbourhood". City ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, but much of the attention after the match was on West Brom's tackling. Substitute Brahim Diaz was on the end of a strong Matt Phillips challenge five minutes from time which left Pep Guardiola angry. Phillips only received a booking for his tackle, the same punishment dished out to McClean 22 minutes from time, when he made a callous attempt to bring De Bruyne down on the break with a studs-first lunge, but luckily for the Belgian, the contact was minimal. De Bruyne was not aware quite how ugly McClean's challenge was until seeing a replay after the game and he was not particularly impressed with the winger's conduct. "I didn't know the tackle was like that," De Bruyne told reporters.  "I've just see...