List of All Articles with Tag 'pg'

The LPGA is in the midst of the inaugural Mizuho Americas Open, hosted at the scenic Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey.Heading into Round 3 on Saturday, the leaderboard is stacked with stars and storylines. World No. 1 Jin Young Ko sits at T4 with a score of 5-under par, two strokes back ...

Manchester City take on Manchester United in a historic FA Cup final at Wembley. In the first ever FA Cup final played between the Manchester clubs, talk of the “treble” has dominated the build-up to the showpiece occasion. City are attempting to equal United’s treble-winning campaign of 1999 this season, with the Premier League title secured and the Champions League final to come next week. Such an achievement would be a landmark moment for the English game, as well as in the rivalry between the teams. United therefore have all the motivation they need as they look to deny City. Erik ten Hag’s side have added the Carabao Cup to their trophy collection this season but Pep Guardiola’s team have looked unstoppable in recent weeks, with striker Erling Haaland set to feature in the FA Cup final for the first time after his record-breaking 36-goal Premier League campaign. There are storylines everywhere you look as Wembley gets ready to host an unmissable final. Follow live updates from the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United, below: Read More Manchester United are obsessed with stopping Man City – their history depends on it The unlikely Manchester United answer to derail Man City’s treble hopes Ruben Dias interview: ‘Man City have done nothing yet - thinking too far ahead will kill us’

We're halfway through The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, which is serving as the second-to-last designated event for the 2023 PGA Tour season.Justin Suh holds a one stroke lead after Round 2, but Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Cantlay are hot on his heels.If you haven't al...

Rory McIlroy begins Saturday with a real chance to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Jack's place, sitting tied for seventh place, four shots behind leader Justin Suh. He's had some notable lows this season — missing the cut at the Masters and the PLAYERS Championship — but he finished seventh at the PGA Championship and has won a tournament, placed second, and placed third. McIlroy has been dealing with a lot from a work perspective, playing a tons of golf and also serving as the de facto Face of the PGA Tour.

A derby day at Wembley beckons, with Manchester City hoping to take another step toward equalling history - and Manchester United desperate to keep that particular page for themselves. The Red Devils are looking to emulate Liverpool from last season and win both the League Cup and FA Cup in the same season; the former is in the bag and now the latter is the target for Erik ten Hag’s team. Pep Guardiola’s Premier League winners, however, are in search of a treble. With the domestic title sewn up and a Champions League final on the horizon against Inter Milan, this match is the second part of their quest which would underline their dominance on home soil. City’s last FA Cup triumph came four years ago, while United are without this title in seven years. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the big day. When is the FA Cup final and what time does it kick off? The 2022/23 FA Cup final takes place at Wembley on Saturday 3 June 2023. Kick-off is at 3pm. Where can I watch it? The FA Cup final is free-to-air, so viewers can watch on BBC 1, ITV 1 and STV. For those wishing to stream the match it will be visible on the BBC Sport website, the BBC iPlayer, ITVX and STV Player. Team news Pep Guardiola eased concerns over the fitness of a number of key Manchester City players ahead of the FA Cup final. Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji all missed the champions’ final Premier League game of the season at Brentford last week but those players have all since returned to training and are expected to come back into contention for both the Wembley showpiece. Guardiola has also confirmed second-choice goalkeeper Stefan Ortega will start at Wembley, in keeping with his usual policy for domestic cup fixtures. Antony is “unlikely” to be fit for the final due to an ankle injury and is set to join Anthony Martial, Marcel Sabitzer and Lisandro Martinez on the sidelines. Other than squad backups Donny van de Beek and Tom Heaton, everyone else is available. Predicted line-ups Manchester City: Ortega, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Stones, Rodri, Silva, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish, Haaland Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lindelof, Shaw, Casemiro, Eriksen, Fernandes, Sancho, Garnacho, Rashford Odds City 11/21 Draw 39/10 United 11/2 Prediction Pep Guardiola’s team are naturally superior to Erik ten Hag’s across the board, but stopping a rival emulate your own history is a powerful motivator. Perhaps leg No.2 of the treble bid is the one which won’t quite go City’s way. Man City 1-2 Man United. Read More FA Cup final prize money: How much do winners earn? The unlikely Man Utd answer to derail Man City’s treble hopes Manchester United are obsessed with stopping Man City – their history depends on it Casemiro promised to fix Man United - FA Cup final can prove that he has Ruben Dias: ‘Man City have done nothing yet - thinking too far ahead will kill us’ Raphael Varane: ‘To play for Manchester United, you need something different’

There is set to be a coronation at in Glasgow this weekend but when the celebrations die down, the message from Ange Postecoglou will remain the same. The only difference is whether that message stays with Celtic, or goes elsewhere. Tottenham are circling. A decision looms. Amid a party of green and white, Postecoglou would be forgiven for taking a sweeping look at what he has built in the two years since he arrived at Celtic Park unheralded, second-choice and without a previous position in European football. The doubters have long since been silenced by the ties that have been forged between fans and manager, and a team constructed in Postecoglou’s image that is blazing a trail towards one of the most successful seasons in the club’s history. But then, with a sharp, gruff bark, Celtic will snap into action in the manner the Australian demands, powered on by the gems he has helped unearth. Celtic play with ferocity, fuelled by the defiance of a manager who has taken an unwanted hand and produced a team that not only sweeps aside all before it domestically, but excites and enthrals while doing so. Postecoglou lives by the ethos that football should be that way, and a philosophy that a club should give back to its people. In Glasgow, Celtic fans love him for it - it helps, too, that a second consecutive league title has been sealed and a domestic treble is likely to follow in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final. Such success for Celtic is nothing new given their dominance over the past decade, but this side stands for something more. One may argue that Celtic’s 11th title in 12 seasons is a reflection of woeful lack of competitiveness of the Scottish top-flight, but that has been the case for some time and Postecoglou’s side have elevated the standard. Under Postecoglou, Celtic are a vision of breathless, attacking football. The defence of their Premiership title was sealed with four games to spare but it has felt like a one-horse race since they thrashed Rangers 4-0 in September. While Rangers have regressed, sacking Giovanni van Bronckhorst midway through the season, now unconvincing under Michael Beale, Celtic’s improvement has been relentless. It’s what Postecoglou promised as he stood on the pitch at Celtic Park after lifting his first Premiership title last May, and his team have delivered. “We never stop”, is the ethos that rings around Celtic these days, set by Postecoglou when he walked through the door in the summer of 2021. The club needed energy and drive but the situation Postecoglou inherited was unenviable. That may sound ridiculous, given Celtic had won an unprecedented quadruple treble of domestic honours before enduring a trophyless season the year before Postecoglou arrived. It spelled the end for Neil Lennon midway through the campaign, before the club’s protracted pursuit of Eddie Howe led down a blind alley. Celtic looked leaderless and desperate. After Howe turned Celtic down, whoever took the job was suddenly faced with the sizable task of rebuilding the squad in one summer. Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie were sold to the wealth of the Premier League, Olivier Ntcham to the Championship, while captain Scott Brown ended his 14-year stay at the club and joined Aberdeen. Amid the uncertainty and Rangers’ first league title since 2011 - which stopped Celtic’s attempts to win a historic 10 in a row - the feeling on both halves of Glasgow was there had been a distinct power shift. When Postecoglou was unveiled there were stern warnings of the difficulties of the job he had walked into, as well as scepticism over whether he was ready for such a position. Postecoglou had the experience and his managerial CV featured league titles with the Brisbane Roar and the Yokohama Marinos in Japan, as well as leading Australia to the Asia Cup, but to some it was not the ‘right’ experience given the part of the world those honours were won. There was ridicule when it emerged that Celtic had to apply to Uefa for a special exemption as Postecoglou did not hold the required European coaching licence. But those who rushed to dismiss Postecoglou’s track record once he arrived in Scotland had failed to do their research. Postecoglou did not just win leagues but the football they played had a transformational impact on them, particularly in Australia and then later Japan. Still, and just like Arsene Wenger when he arrived in the Premier League from Japanese side Nagoya Grampus, Postecoglou’s past was received with prejudice that bordered on British and European arrogance. Yet throughout this career, the football his teams played had left their mark, and he was about to do the same in the Scottish Premiership. Those early days at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training base set the tone. As Postecoglou gathered his players and began to instil the fundamentals of his approach, there was one phrase that rang repeatedly until it was drilled into the psyche of the side: “We never stop”. Postecoglou wanted Celtic to be unrelenting, with constant movement and rotation. The full-backs would tuck inside and the central midfielders would push out wide, while a narrow but fluid front three buzzed around and interchanged positions. Postecoglou is intense, direct - and he wanted Celtic to be the same with and without the ball. There were some early set-backs. Postecoglou’s first competitive games were against the Danish side Midtjylland in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League. Given the importance of Champions League finances for Celtic, Postecoglou was immediately faced with a must-win tie but Celtic were beaten and consigned to the Europa League after a 2-1 defeat in Denmark. By mid-September, Celtic had already lost three times in the league - the opening day trip to Hearts, the first Old Firm of the season to champions Rangers, and then a 1-0 defeat at Livingston. Yet they would not suffer another in the Premiership that season, finishing with a 32-game unbeaten run. Already, the early signs of Postecoglou’s free-flowing, attacking football were evident and it soon became apparent that goals would be a near-guarantee. The Celtic fans coined Postecoglou’s philosophy as ‘Angeball’ - an appreciation of the manager’s demand to play football in the right way, to excite and build a team they could enjoy as well as take pride in. The night it all changed came in early February as Rangers arrived at Celtic Park with a two-point lead in the table. But in a crystallisation of Posecolgou’s vision, Celtic were rampant and blitzed a Rangers side who would reach the Europa League final that May, leading 3-0 by half time. Already the balance of power in Glasgow was beginning to shift again and Celtic didn’t look back. As they reclaimed the Premiership title on the penultimate weekend of the season, Postecoglou’s status among the congregation was unimpeachable. Postecoglou is a manager who seeks total authority and his desire to take control over the playing style extended to the club’s recruitment, which was a significant responsibility given the extent of the rebuilding job. But after Celtic recouped around £40m by selling Edouard to Crystal Palace, Ajer to Brentford and Christie to Bournemouth, they overhauled their squad and made it better for less. Like with Postecoglou, Celtic found quality and value in the places where no one else was looking, and it was the Australian’s extensive experience of those markets that allowed Celtic to revolutionise their approach to transfers. The jewel in the crown and the signing that changed everything was the Japan international Kyogo Furuhashi, who Postecoglu knew from facing the Vissel Kobe forward in the J-League. Kyogo arrived for £4.5m and hit 20 goals in his debut season, while he has reached 30 this campaign and is set to sweep the individual awards in Scotland. His instant impact paved the way for Celtic to sign the industrious and skilful Reo Hatate for £1.5m and the versatile finisher Daizen Maeda for £1.6m. The Japanese trio have transformed Celtic and Postecoglou’s ability to immediately get a tune out of his new signings has been key to their astonishing success in the market. The list of hits are impressive and so too are the prices. The winger Jota signed for £6m from Benfica after a dazzling first season on loan. The same can be said for the defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, £6m after a loan from Tottenham, who has formed a formidable partnership with Carl Starfelt - £4m from Rubin Kazan. Matt O’Riley was plucked from MK Dons at £1.5m and looks an excellent young midfield talent. The former England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, now 35, has proved a shrewd and important signing at £1m. With the exception of the elder statesman Hart, those prices will be doubled, trebled, even quadrupled now. When right back Josko Juranovic was sold to Union Berlin for £7.5m following his performances for Croatia at the World Cup he was swiftly replaced by Alasdair Johnson at £3.5m, who himself caught the eye for Canada in Qatar. It displayed Celtic’s newfound propensity for efficiency in the transfer market, but Postecoglou has also found improvement in the players he inherited. Callum McGregor, the longest serving player in the side, has gone up another level and did not look out of place against Spain’s midfield at Hampden earlier this year. It is no surprise that there is not a sacking that goes by in the Premier League without Postecoglou’s name being mentioned among the candidates. The Australian plays attractive football under a clear tactical system, understands the transfer market, and improves players - managerial qualities every Premier League club is desperate for. According to The Independent, Postecoglou’s name is at the top of Tottenham’s wishlist, with the club planning on holding talks after the Scottish Cup final. Tottenham’s interest will be a test of Celtic’s resolve and Postecoglou’s ambition to resist them. There are clear improvements for Celtic to make in the Champions League, though, and that will be where he can take them next. For now, Celtic will hope to crown their treble with a victory against Inverness at Hampden on Saturday. With each trophy, the bond and emotional attachment between Celtic and Postecoglou grows stronger, but so too does the determination to keep moving forward. Read More Tottenham set two-week target to confirm managerial appointment Tottenham identify new first choice for manager after Arne Slot snub ‘We never stop’: How Ange Postecoglou became Tottenham’s first choice Callum McGregor rescues point for Celtic from dramatic draw with St Mirren The differences between old allies Ten Hag and Guardiola that will decide cup final

When Manchester City won the Premier League, Erik ten Hag was not one of the first on the phone to Pep Guardiola. Perhaps that is unsurprising: he is, after all, manager of their rivals. But he is also an old ally, a man who worked with Guardiola at Bayern Munich, one who, just before he took the job at Manchester United, the Catalan had said could succeed him at the Etihad Stadium. They are part of a mutual admiration society. “The way in winning the title is a demonstration of football, everyone likes the way they play: so attractive, so brilliant,” Ten Hag said. “But their season is still not finished as our season is still not finished.” If Guardiola is denied a historic treble, it may be by a man he took under his wing. The man who liked Guardiola’s football so much that he took a backward step to team up with him, leaving a manager’s job at Go Ahead Eagles, who he had led to promotion, to take charge of Bayern’s second team in the German fourth division in 2013, has progressed rapidly. If Ten Hag was playing the long game, looking to further his education, now they meet as peers; at the Etihad Stadium and then Old Trafford this season, at Wembley in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Guardiola has the more storied CV, but Ten Hag is in charge of the bigger club. If, for much of this season, Guardiola could look up the league table and see one of his proteges, Mikel Arteta, above him, now he may be denied the FA Cup by another from his footballing family tree. And yet the sense is that Ten Hag is looking to topple Guardiola, not emulate him. They can come from the same school of thought, but they have attended different classes. Ten Hag is the former Ajax manager and yet Guardiola is more of the Ajax purist. Guardiola is the Johan Cruyff disciple, the man whose thinking was shaped by the man indelibly associated with Dutch football. He was the slow, inelegant reserve-team player parachuted into Barcelona’s Dream Team, who then became a European Cup winner as a player; in 2008, Cruyff advocated giving the untried Guardiola the manager’s job. A spectacular success only enhanced his own legacy. “Without him, I wouldn’t be here,” Guardiola reflected in 2016. Guardiola was exposed to Cruyff’s thinking at a formative age. There is a clip of a 13-year-old Ten Hag asking Cruyff a question on Dutch television, but he is not from Amsterdam or an Ajax product. He grew up near the German border, had three spells as a player and one as a coach at Twente in Enschede. He was 43 when he linked up with Guardiola, 47 when he got the Ajax job. He was, according to his assistant Steve McClaren, known as “mini Pep” at Bayern, when they coached on adjacent training pitches. Yet Ten Hag’s United are not a mirror of Guardiola’s City. There are similarities, but marked differences, too. Arteta’s Arsenal have more common denominators with City. United have topped the Premier League’s passing charts under a former Ajax manager, but he was Louis van Gaal and it was in 2014-15. In 2022-23, as City predictably had the most possession, United trailed in sixth, with 53.7 per cent to the champions’ 65.2. Their pass completion rate was only the seventh best, behind even Tottenham. Meanwhile, as City, partly by having the greatest share of the ball, won the fewest tackles, United won the eighth most. They were eighth for blocks, too. City were twentieth. United were less slaves to possession, more reliant on winning duels. They played more long passes and scored the most goals from counter-attacks. United have not been slaves to possession. A difference can be seen in their respective wingers: Guardiola will often pick the pair who give him most control whereas Ten Hag tends to prefer a dribbler, in Antony, and a scorer and sprinter, in Marcus Rashford. United are willing to risk losing the ball more to try to make something happen. The passing statistics of Bruno Fernandes (77.7 per cent completion rate) and Casemiro (78.5) are examples; only Erling Haaland of the City regulars finds a teammate on a lower share of occasions. If United’s style of play in part shows Ten Hag’s pragmatic streak, he has shown a willingness to keep David de Gea, no Ederson with the ball at his feet; Guardiola would surely have ditched a goalkeeper who cannot double up as the eleventh outfield player. But they share a fondness for left-footed centre-backs that is a recurring theme among those with Ajax influences. Perhaps Ten Hag’s flagship signing was Lisandro Martinez; he has shown a reluctance to use the right-footed Harry Maguire in his old role as a left-sided centre-back. In converting left-back Luke Shaw to use him in the middle, he has echoed one of Guardiola’s early surprises, when Aleksandar Kolarov assumed similar duties. So far, though, he has eschewed inverted full-backs or hybrid roles like John Stones’, two of Guardiola’s idiosyncratic ploys; in Martinez, Shaw and Varane, however, he simply has defenders who can double up as progressive passers. Ten Hag’s United debut came with a tactic that seemed to come straight from the Guardiola handbook, with Christian Eriksen selected as a false nine. It did not work, though he had greater success at Ajax when selecting Dusan Tadic instead of a striker. His use of Fernandes in a variety of positions has shown a total football ethos; as Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan can testify, Guardiola’s midfielders can find themselves given a number of different slots in the side, too. Ten Hag has differed from Guardiola in derbies; a strategy of man-marking in midfield backfired when they went 6-1 down at the Etihad, eventually losing 6-3; with Fred excelling against De Bruyne and Fernandes playing off the right, it worked better in victory at Old Trafford. Perhaps, with his fondness for quick attacks, Ten Hag is trying to tap into United’s traditions, to borrow from Sir Alex Ferguson as much as from Guardiola; his relentless emphasis on a winning mentality echoes the Scot’s attitude. Certainly, his style of football is designed to bring the best from some of those he inherited, such as Rashford and Fernandes, rather than being dogmatically ideological. But were Cruyff still around, the chances are he would have seen his stamp on one of the sides at Wembley: that managed by his pupil, Guardiola, rather than that under a successor at Ajax and a compatriot, Ten Hag. Read More How Yaya Toure changed everything for Man City — and delivered Man Utd a ‘slap in the face’ The year that sportswashing won: A season that changed football forever 5 key talking points as rivals Man City and Man Utd clash in FA Cup final How managers Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag fare ahead of FA Cup final Pep Guardiola takes top honours at LMA Awards Injury concerns for Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish ahead of FA Cup final

Jose Mourinho confronted English referee Anthony Taylor in the car park and called him a “f***ing disgrace” after Roma’s Europa League final defeat to Sevilla. Mourinho’s Roma side were beaten on penalties in Budapest in an ill-tempered match as Sevilla won the Europa League for the seventh time. The manager was furious with Premier League official Taylor during the final at the Puskas Arena, with the referee showing a total of 13 yellow cards across the match. Mourinho approached Taylor in the car park of the Puskas Arena as the referee and his officiating team were leaving the stadium. The former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham boss could be heard shouting, “F***ing disgrace man, it’s a f***ing disgrace” in English. Mourinho then switched to swearing in Italian and made his way back to the Roma team bus, before approaching the referee again to say, “Congratulations, you f***ing disgrace”. Mourinho was booked during the Europa League final while seven of his Roma players were also shown yellow cards. Sevilla picked up six bookings during the final. The 60-year-old continued to fume during his post-match press conference, where he accused Taylor of “bulls***” decisions and said Sevilla player Erik Lamela should have been sent off. “Next year we won’t be playing the Champions League and that’s a good thing because we’re not made for it,” Mourinho said. “And let’s hope that Taylor, only officiates games in the Champions League and does the same bull**** there that he did tonight, and not in the Europa League. “It was an intense, vibrant game with a referee who seemed Spanish. It was yellow, yellow, yellow all the time. “Today in all the dubious episodes, the yellow cards, the referee blew the whistle in favour of Sevilla. “I am surprised because he is an international referee who has a great reputation.” After giving his silver medal to a fan in the crowd, Mourinho thanked his players despite losing in penalties to Sevilla in the Europa League final in Budapest. Mourinho was set to become the most decorated European manager in history with six trophies and after a Paulo Dybala goal put them in front it was looking likely. Roma went on to concede an own goal and lost 4-1 in penalties when Roger Ibanez and Gianluca Mancini missed from the spot. Mourinho told ITV Italy after the game: "I’ve won five finals and I lost this one, but I’m coming back home proud again. The boys gave everything. "We felt pressure against a team that has more talent than us. We lost a game but not dignity. "I’ve never gone home prouder than today, even when I won. We had also worked hard on penalties but... we missed two - but all together, not only the penalty takers." Includes reporting from PA Read More Gonzalo Montiel the penalty hero again as Sevilla win seventh Europa League title Jose Mourinho complains Europa League final was ‘unfair result’ after Roma’s controversial defeat by Sevilla Jose Mourinho gives his Europa League runners-up medal to young fan in crowd Jose Mourinho gives his Europa League runners-up medal to young fan in crowd Jose Mourinho complains Europa League final was an ‘unfair result’ Sevilla win seventh Europa League title

Conor Coady will leave Everton after the club decided not to take up their option to sign him permanently for £4.5 million. The England international returns to Wolves, who loaned their captain out last summer after he lost his place following former manager Bruno Lage’s decision to switch to a back four. Coady made 25 appearances for Everton, scoring two goals, and excelled in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth, when they avoided relegation. But he had not started any of the previous 13 matches when Sean Dyche dropped him to prefer first Michael Keane and then Yerry Mina. Dyche chose not to buy Coady whereas the expectation was that if former manager Frank Lampard had stayed in charge, a long-term move would have been triggered. Coady faces an uncertain future at Wolves, with Julen Lopetegui replacing Lage while he was out on loan, but the Spaniard has also preferred to play with just two centre-backs. Left-back Ruben Vinagre also returns to his parent club, Sporting Lisbon, after an injury-hit year on loan at Goodison Park. Read More How Manchester United reached the FA Cup final for a 21st time Liverpool and Juventus remember Heysel – Monday’s sporting social Time for yet another Everton reset – but this time with a dose of boring reality

Sevilla are targeting a record-extending seventh Europa League title when they take on Roma in the final of the 2022/23 competition in Budapest tonight. The Spanish side have struggled domestically this year and have spent most of their La Liga campaign fending off relegation, but they have performed exceptionally in Europe. José Luis Mendilibar is their third manager of the season but has orchestrated wins over big name teams like Juventus and Manchester United on the way to this evening’s final. Sevilla will take on a Roma side who are looking to seal back-to-back European titles following their victory in the Europa Conference League last season. Jose Mourinho’s side won the inaugural tournament of Europe’s third competition last year and are now one win away from Champions League qualification. Victory in tonight’s final would also see Mourinho become the first manager to win the Europa League with three different clubs, following previous triumphs with Porto and Manchester United. Follow all the action as Sevilla and Roma clash in the Europa League showpiece: Read More Jose Mourinho flashing the old charm with chance to return to the big time The year that sportswashing won: A season that changed football forever Jose Mourinho into another European final as Roma set up Sevilla showdown

Bethany England has been included in Sarina Wiegman’s England squad for this summer’s World Cup, while Beth Mead misses out. Striker England, who has not been involved for her country since last September, is recalled after scoring 12 Women’s Super League goals for Tottenham since joining them from Chelsea in January. But there is no return for Euro 2022 Golden Boot winner and player of the tournament Mead, having lost her battle against time after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in November. Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze, also sidelined of late, do feature in a 23-player list from which skipper Leah Williamson and Fran Kirby had already been ruled out due to injury.

There used to be a banner that hung from the top tier of the Stretford End. It was an exercise in mocking Manchester United’s neighbours, containing a number that rose by the year. The ticker had reached 35 before it was taken down. Yaya Toure was the man who removed it; not physically but because of what was, until Saturday, the biggest Manchester derby ever held in the FA Cup. The 2011 FA Cup was Manchester City’s first trophy in 35 years. It was secured by Toure’s winner in the final against Stoke; even that felt less important, however, than his semi-final decider against United. The balance of power in Manchester was shifted by Sheikh Mansour’s millions, by the management of Roberto Mancini, even if Sir Alex Ferguson then had the last word, Manuel Pellegrini and, most emphatically, Pep Guardiola, by some of United’s missteps, by a host of City players. Vincent Kompany is their most successful captain, Sergio Aguero their record scorer, though Erling Haaland is eating up other goalscoring feats, there was a case for calling David Silva their greatest player and there are growing reasons to instead give that mantle to Kevin de Bruyne. But Toure’s catalytic impact meant he has always had an argument to be the most significant. “From the moment I signed for the club I always had the feeling it was going to be a huge project,” he said. “My head was about trying to change things and make things happen.” More than most, he made things happen. United had won six of eight derbies since City’s 2008 takeover; they had also overturned their one defeat in the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals. Then they arrived at Wembley in April 2011. “Winning that first trophy was important. Of course, in that period United were so comfortable - they’d win week in, week out, they were winning the league easily,” Toure recalled. “At the beginning it was very tough. It’s only now, as I look back, that I realise how tough.” Bought from Barcelona, Toure was one of the trophy winners City had hired to try and change their attitude. Another made his own contribution in the dressing room. There was a rousing team talk from City’s most experienced and decorated player, the World Cup winner Patrick Vieira. “He delivered a great speech,” Toure recalled. “We all remember the message.” And yet, as Toure noted, United still began in imposing mood. Like City now, they were going for a treble. “In the first half we were getting battered,” he said. “They were dominant in all aspects: defensively, offensively, all over the field. Whereas the second half we knew we had to change the mentality and go for it. Because after that it’s going to be so noisy, the city.” To borrow Ferguson’s phrase, Toure turned City into the noisy neighbours. His goal, he argued, was “not something creative, just desire”. He felt Michael Carrick was the United Sergio Busquets, the holding midfielder comfortable in possession. But he closed him down and robbed him. “Then I only had to push the ball past [Nemanja] Vidic because I believed in my strengths and was arriving at pace. [Edwin] Van der Sar came out - he’s big - but I just knew I had to put the ball between his legs. I didn’t think a lot,” Toure said, making it all sound easy. He had often been a defensive midfielder for Guardiola’s Barcelona. He played as a centre-back in the 2009 Champions League final. But he was unleashed in Manchester as an attacking midfielder, one who scored 24 goals in the 2013-14 season. “In England, I had the freedom to run,” Toure said. “I think most of my game was about taking advantage of those sort of moments at speed and I think that few seconds against United was like a resume of my career at Man City.” That City career was not without its controversies. Nor was that of another whose arrival came at a cost to United; a more direct one, arguably. Carlos Tevez swapped red for blue in 2009, City infamously announcing his arrival with a billboard that read, ‘Welcome to Manchester’. The Argentinian went on to lift the 2011 FA Cup as City captain. “Tevez was one of the biggest players and to take him from a big rival and bring him to you, you can maybe understand why Ferguson was frustrated and pissed off,” Toure said. “Tevez was incredible in that period. I was at Barcelona then but I remember being away at the time and seeing it on Sky and it was a big thing. ‘Tevez switches from United to City’. It was incredible. Tevez had been someone who was so important in the reign of United. [Dimitar] Berbatov, [Wayne] Rooney, [Ryan] Giggs: this team was unbeatable. So to see one of their talismans go to their rival like that is something; you could see something was changing.” Yet he accelerated the change. City have won the Premier League six times since United last did; Guardiola’s side could emulate Ferguson’s team of 1999 by doing the treble. City have now won more since Toure’s 2017 departure than they did with him, but, like Eric Cantona for United, he will always have a status as the man who ended a wait that spanned decades. Now he is coaching Tottenham’s Under-16s. “I dream to one day be a manager,” he said. “We never know in life; maybe I’ll meet Man City one day again.” Or maybe he will face United again. Which may cause them tremors. The FA Cup semi-final was not even their most famous derby defeat in 2011; five months later, with Toure at the heart of the midfield, City scored six at Old Trafford. “I think what hurt United the most - the club, their fans - was the 6-1 win.” Toure added. “That was impressive from us. After the FA Cup, we believed we could beat them even at Old Trafford with Ferguson. Ferguson is one of the great managers. Old Trafford is the most emblematic stadium around the world. Most of their players were there. It was like a slap in the face of United fans.” Toure still has a memento, a souvenir from United in his house. “It’s in Ivory Coast,” he said. “That teamsheet is in a United frame.” Read More 5 key talking points as rivals Man City and Man Utd clash in FA Cup final The year that sportswashing won: A season that changed football forever Premier League 2022/23 season awards: Best player, manager, transfer flop and breakthrough act