Manchester City's manager Manuel Pellegrini reacts ahead of their FA Cup third round soccer match against Blackburn Rovers at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, northwest England January 15, 2014. REUTERS/Phil Noble
(Reuters) - Manuel Pellegrini wanted to change his entire Manchester City side at halftime after they trailed 2-0 at home to second tier Watford in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday before eventually winning 4-2, the Chilean said.
The manager ripped into his players, accusing them of "jogging" through the opening 45 minutes, but his anger paid off as a Sergio Aguero hat-trick enabled City to reach the last-16.
"I wanted to change all of my players at halftime, all 11 of them," Pellegrini told a news conference.
"The whole team was a disaster in the first half. My team wants to win every game and wants to win the FA Cup.
"I was very worried at halftime because I talked with the players a lot before the match and said that, in the FA Cup, teams that play in a lower division have a lot of motivation," Pellegrini added.
"If you don't play with 100 percent intensity and desire you can lose and go out of the competition and we were jogging in the first half. If you play like that you can't win."
City have a 100 percent home record in the league this season, scoring 42 goals in 11 games and cracking 15 goals in their last three home matches.
Despite Pellegrini fielding a side packed with quality they were second best early on against a Watford side managed by former hospital janitor Beppe Sannino.
"The whole team didn't do the things that we normally do in the first half, the most important thing for me is Watford didn't score the third goal," said City's manager.
"If they'd have scored that the game would have been finished. But the reaction was there and we played a really good second half."
Despite averaging four goals in home games this season and suffering only one defeat at The Etihad, to Bayern Munich, City were frustrated for an hour against Watford who led through goals by Fernando Forestieri and Troy Deeney.
Aguero began the comeback when he tucked the ball in from close range and he curled in the equaliser after 79 minutes.
Aleksandar Kolarov's shot was fumbled in by Watford's keeper three minutes from time before Aguero took his tally this season to 25 and City's to 110 in all competitions.
"We didn't want him to play 90 minutes, the idea was for him to play 60 or 70 minutes but it didn't turn out like that," Pellegrini said of Aguero.
"We had to leave him on and he made the difference."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Tony Jimenez)
Aguero saves City from Cup shock, Liverpool advance
By Martyn Herman
LONDON Sat Jan 25, 2014 7:52pm GMT
Liverpool's Victor Moses (L) shoots and scores a goal against Bournemouth during their English FA Cup soccer match at Dean Court in Bournemouth, southern England January 25, 2014. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
(Reuters) - Second-tier Watford were half an hour away from a seismic FA Cup shock at Manchester City on Saturday before Sergio Aguero ruined the script with a hat-trick as his side stormed back to reach the last 16 with a 4-2 win.
Only European champions Bayern Munich had returned victorious from City's Etihad Stadium fortress this season but goals by Fernando Forestieri and Troy Deeney had the Watford fans dreaming of a famous result.
The London side were still leading 2-0 after an hour but eventually succumbed to the siege as Aguero cancelled out the deficit, Aleksandar Kolarov put City ahead three minutes from time and their Argentina striker completed a treble to maintain Manuel Pellegrini's side's four-pronged assault on silverware.
"I wanted to change all of my players at half-time, all 11 of them," a relieved Pellegrini said.
"The whole team was a disaster in the first half."
Liverpool had no such problems as they reached the last-16 with a 2-0 win at second tier Bournemouth - Victor Moses and Daniel Sturridge scoring for the seven-times winners who were made to work hard on the south coast.
Moses opened the scoring after 26 minutes and Sturridge linked with Luis Suarez on the hour to ease Liverpool through and make sure there was no repeat of last season's humbling defeat to third tier Oldham Athletic.
Kidderminster, the only survivors from outside England's top four divisions, battled valiantly at League Cup finalists Sunderland but slipped out 1-0 while fourth tier Southend United were beaten 2-0 at home by Premier League Hull City.
STEVENAGE CRUSHED
League One Sheffield United, who face Premier League Fulham on Sunday, are now the only side not in the top two divisions still in the competition after Everton crushed Stevenage 4-0 in Saturday's late kickoff.
Everton paid a price for their victory though with Costa Rica fullback Bryan Oviedo suffering a suspected broken leg.
Holders Wigan Athletic, who were relegated to the Championship after beating Manchester City in last year's final, kept alive their hopes of an unlikely successful defence of the trophy with a 2-1 win over top flight Crystal Palace.
Apart from Palace's exit there were no other surprises with Wilfried Bony's double helping Swansea City triumph 2-1 at Birmingham City, Cardiff City winning 1-0 at Bolton Wanderers and Southampton easing past second-tier side Yeovil Town 2-0.
Championship sides Brighton and Hove Albion and Charlton Athletic are also in Sunday's fifth round draw, as are three-times winners Sheffield Wednesday who ended the hopes of fourth-tier Rochdale, winning 2-1 away despite finishing with 10 men.
Chelsea host Stoke City on Sunday, while Premier League leaders Arsenal progressed on Friday with a 4-0 victory over Coventry City at The Emirates.
CITY RECOVER
Even diehard Watford fans would have feared the worst as their side ventured north to Manchester to face a City side who have trounced the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at home this season.
City began the match with 106 goals already in the tank from the four competitions they are contesting, the majority of them at home, and a strong lineup.
But they fell behind after 21 minutes when Forestieri fired through the legs of goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon.
Nine minutes later the side that are 15th in the Championship extended their lead through Deeney to send their 3,500 travelling fans into delirium.
City boasted an attacking quartet of Stevan Jovetic, Edin Dzeko, Aguero and Jesus Navas after the break and once Aguero clinically pulled a goal back on the hour there was a sense of inevitability about the outcome.
Aguero curled home the equaliser in the 79th and, after Kolarov's weak shot somehow got past Watford keeper Jonathan Bond three minutes from time, Aguero completed the turnaround with his head to maintain City's four-goal average at home.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Josh Reich)
