Manchester City did the damage in the first half against Fulham before Pep Guardiola grew increasingly annoyed as the match went on

21:39, 11 Feb 2026Updated 21:56, 11 Feb 2026

Matheus Nunes passed the ball out of play and Pep Guardiola had seen enough. The Manchester City manager jabbed angrily to his assistant Pep Lijnders, lashed out an arm to summon Abdukodir Khusanov and the next time the ball went out of play Nunes’s night was over.

Once again, Guardiola must have been asking how it had come to this. City had been all over a poor Fulham from the first whistle and were three goals to the good by half-time. Surely their spell of not turning up for a second half would end against such poor opposition when they had all the momentum?

Apparently not. For the umpteenth time, City came out after the break looking like a side that had never played together before as their manager shouted himself hoarse on the touchline trying to snap them out of it. Fulham weren’t good enough to capitalise, yet other teams already have and more will do so in future if it isn’t improved.

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That is why Guardiola struck such a note of caution in his press conference days after beating Liverpool, knowing that his team need to be far more consistent across 90 minutes and solve their weird disappearing act in games if they are to push Arsenal all the way. What came before the second half, though, is the sort of consistency that means they are now just three points off top spot in the Premier League.

Despite a slow start in attack, City’s three banks of two ahead of the defence worked again with Nico O’Reilly and his towering frame growing every game into the midfield battle and Phil Foden energetic in his first league start since derby defeat last month. With a charitable Sander Berge chipping in to help an errant City attack by gifting the ball to Antoine Semenyo in the six-yard box, the hosts were on their way and never looked back.

A slick counter-attack helped by Haaland saw Nico O’Reilly exchange passes with Semenyo and clip the ball past Bernd Leno. City’s No.9 was clattered into moments after sending the ball but the fact that several players rushed to him when the ball went in despite him being 40 yards back reflected the contribution.

City’s No.9 was then fed by Foden and slotted in his 29th goal of the season from outside of the box to finish the game before half-time. If you could make the case that Fulham had turned up, nobody needed to in the second half.

Except City did if they wanted to show that they were making the progress that Guardiola wants them to. They didn’t, and that brought his anger on them before he turned fire on the referee and earned yet another booking.

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That will all need work, but City now have nine days before their next league game and another week after that to get on the training ground to make those tweaks. For now, being three points behind Arsenal is enough and if they are any closer than nine behind when they next kick off given the Gunners now play twice then this result will feel even better.

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The Carabao Cup Final will see Arsenal v Manchester City at London’s Wembley Stadium this March.

Only 10 days before their MLS regular season opener, Inter Miami may be without star man Lionel Messi. The club announced that the Argentine number 10 has suffered a hamstring strain during their most recent friendly, a 2-2 draw against Barcelona SC in Ecuador. Messi scored a goal and assisted another in that match, but the Herons are rightfully being cautious with his return to play, treating it as a day-to-day injury. 

“Messi did not participate in training this Wednesday, February 11, due to a muscle strain in his left hamstring sustained during the match against Barcelona SC in Ecuador, which has persisted since then,” Miami said in a statement.

Miami open their season with quite a challenge, travelling to the LA Memorial Coliseum to face Heung-min Son, Denis Bouanga, and Los Angeles FC on Feb. 21 in a match of two of the top contenders for MLS Cup. There’s a chance that Miami will have to do that without the reigning MLS MVP as Messi looks to win the award for the third consecutive season. 

At 38 years old and also looking to lead Argentina at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, it’s critical for manager Javier Mascherano and Miami to not push Messi because having him for the full season is more important than having him for the first game. It’s a long season in MLS, and the more games in the long run that the Herons can have with Messi available the better. 

This will be a good time to ensure that new singing German Berterame is set to lead the line while improving creativity around the squad. Last season, Messi tallied the second-most goal contributions in league history with 48 from 29 goals and 19 assists, while also becoming the second player in league history to lead the league in both goals and assists alongside Sebastian Giovinco when he was with Toronto FC.

The Herons will take part in three competitions this season, which is an improvement from last season when they were in four due to Club World Cup commitments. They enter the Concacaf Champions Cup in the round of 16 and will also take part in the Leagues Cup and MLS play. Between all those competitions, Mascherano will need his entire squad at his disposal, especially when MLS doesn’t pause for international breaks except during the World Cup.

In April, the Herons are also set to open their new home, Miami Freedom Park, which is another part of their history that they’ll want Messi on the field for. He signed a contract extension through 2028 from the grounds of the new stadium and will be one of many draws for the club, having their games properly in Miami instead of their current stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The soccer-specific complex will help usher in a new era for the club after Messi already helped take them to a new level, bringing two trophies and a Club World Cup knockout stage appearance.

French figure skaters Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry pulled off an incredible exploit on Wednesday, winning Olympic gold in ice dancing after skating together for just a year.

Cizeron, 31, and 33-year-old Fournier Beaudry, took the title ahead of reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the USA after the free dance finale.

Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier took bronze.

For Cizeron it is a second consecutive Olympic ice dance gold after he won the title at the Beijing Winter Olympics four years ago with Gabriella Papadakis.

Cizeron and Papadakis retired from competition following their fifth world title in 2022 and he teamed up last March with his close friend, Fournier Beaudry.

Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry had taken a slim 0.46-point lead over the Americans going into the free dance finale at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

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