VIDEO: Borini Goal Not Enough as Manchester City Win League Cup
Fabio Borini loves a big match and we saw it again today when the Liverpool loanee opened the scoring as Sunderland fell to the might of Manchester City at Wembley in the Capital One Cup final.
The Italian, who has also claimed goals against Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle United in a hotly contested Tyne-Weir Derby, can now add the Citizens to his highlight reel after a mistake from Fernandinho gifted the ball for Adam Johnson to knock on for the former Roma man to run onto.
You would have bet the farm on City captain Vincent Kompany dispossessing the Sunderland man as he bared down on goal, but the Belgian came up short as Borini shrugged him off to curl a peach of a shot into the bottom corner to give the Black Cats — and neutrals everywhere — the start that no one expected.
Yaya Toure, Sami Nasri and Jesus Navas would find the net for the Citizens as the Billion Dollar Boys went on to claim the Cup, but from a Liverpool point of view, the miraculous run that Sunderland put in has shown us that Borini can hack it in the Premier League. What that means for his future remains to be seen — he’s shown he can score, but he’s also proving an attractive option for a move away with a few pounds added to his price tag.
It’ll be interesting to see what Brendan Rodgers does when the Italian returns from his loan spell. He’s going to need a bigger squad if we qualify for the Champions League, but he’ll also (presumably) be afforded a sizeable budget to bring in replacements. This goal will certainly be food for thought…
I still don’t think Borini is at his best.
If we add all of his cup shots and goals to his EPL shots and goals we are looking at a shot to goal conversion rate of 15% which is ok but not the 20% that he had when he was in Italy.
I still don’t think he is as fit as he used to be… He had the work rate of Kuyt, with less strength and more speed.
I think while on loan his dribbling has improved but his passing is what I think really needs some work.
I think if he works hard over the summer he could be a good player for us.