So I have seen several people say that Man City were wrong to keep the foot down against Burton the other night when they ended up thrashing them 9-0. I say that’s a load of utter rubbish. 

The same people are the ones who called other clubs in the same week for underestimating their opponents by fielding weaker teams in the FA Cup. Can the big clubs actually win? Field a weaker team, and you’re paying no respect to the opponents and the competition. Field a full-strength side and you’re humiliating the opponents.

It a was a semi-final. Burton earned the right to get there, but once you’re there, you have to rise to the occasion. Sadly they didn’t and Man City were just too good for them.

Should they have stopped at 4 nil. Or 5 nil? No, that would show a huge amount of disrespect for Burton, and for me, it would be more humiliating than being beat 9 nil, to have your opponents stop trying against you.

They are in the middle of a huge title battle this season, and the momentum and confidence that a victory like that can bring can be so crucial in keeping their winning form up and therefore keeping their title charge alive.

I don’t like watching Man City playing so well, no United fan would, but I would never expect them not to keep trying against a team.

Frankly, I’m surprised that so many people have come out and had a go at them for being professional and winning by a huge margin. 

You can see some of the tweets below:

This was in reply to the above:

The fact that members of the media like Adrian Durham are suggesting this is frankly crazy. It was only the day before he was having a go on his show at Liverpool and Klopp for not paying the FA Cup more respect. You really can’t win. Hypocrisy at its best.

Teams owe it the supporters, themselves, their opponents to do their best. Easing up could be seen as match-fixing and could have affected the gambling industry had they not decided to keep scoring. One lucky punter will be certainly glad after winning 8K following Man City winning 9-0 and Kevin de Bruyne scoring first. The odds were at 375/1 and he placed a stake of £21.80. Might ask him for next week’s Lottery Numbers with that luck.

Featured Image by Daniel. Displayed under Creative Commons.