Sky Blue News: City Gain Ground, Laporte’s Key to Success, Pep’s Risky Move, and More...

Manchester City are getting ready for their trip to Bavaria for the second leg of their UCL Quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich. But first, they took care of business against Leicester City on Saturday, then sat back and watched as Arsenal FC choked on another two-goal lead. This time the Gunners coughed it up to West Ham United. Meanwhile, the women’s side will soon be back in Manchester preparing for their match with the Hammers at the weekend. Sky Blue News is here with the latest to help you keep it sorted.

Manchester City handles Leicester City on Haaland’s record-equaling day - Nicholas Mendola - NBS Sports

City is putting teams away before the grass has lost its slickness, and Erling Haaland is simply devouring back lines and goalkeepers in one bite.

In short, he looks like a mixture of the biggest superhero holding the cunning of the biggest villain: a mixture of Thor and Thanos, for the Marvel crowd.

City has to stay sharp through a Champions League second leg and an FA Cup semifinal versus Sheffield United before meeting Arsenal on April 26.

If the two-time defending champions do that and beat the Gunners, they’ll face six more Premier League clubs with a UCL semifinal thrown-in.

Quick Match Recap: Manchester City Dispose Leicester City 3-1 - Saul Garcia - Bitter and Blue

A match that had a similar feel to most City matches, yet resulted in some great play for the team as the intensity was there early.

One where City was in control with possession and chances created. They played a really great match and this time kept the pressure on that led to a win. It means a win was the correct result.

City had so many players who played well and this seems to be a much needed boost as the club feels good even if the final 15 were much more nervous than we hoped.

Two others of note who did play well and were lively were Ederson and KDB who showed up well.

The story of the night is that City get a win and are in the thick of the race for the top.

The stakes have risen and it will make for a fun close of season.

Pep Guardiola ‘wants to keep Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva at Man City’ - Ben Knapton - Sports Mole

With Man City thought to be leading the race to sign Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund, the Englishman’s possible arrival could force one or both of Gundogan and Silva out of the club.

However, Football Insider claims that Guardiola has no intention of parting ways with either man this summer and is pushing to keep both of them on the books at the Etihad.

Club chiefs are also determined not to let both Gundogan and Silva depart in the same transfer window, and their chances of fending off interest in the latter are said to be high.

Man City are reported to have slapped a £70m price tag on the head of the former Monaco man, which would end Barcelona’s hopes of a summer move given their financial constraints.

As such, all parties are now said to view Silva’s proposed switch to Camp Nou “impossible”, but Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain - who have no such economic concerns - are monitoring developments from afar.

Silva has five goals and six assists under his belt from 43 matches in all tournaments this season, but he reaffirmed his desire to leave the Premier League champions back in January.

Aymeric Laporte says Man City Premier League title success ‘depends on’ one thing - Isaac Johnson - Manchester Evening News

City are still on for the treble and were given a title boost when West Ham held the Gunners to a 2-2 draw on Sunday following their own 3-1 win over Leicester on Saturday. It means a win over Arsenal coupled with three points in their game in hand would take them top of the table.

Laporte - who started his seventh league game of the season against Leicester - says the squad is “in a good mood”. But with potentially another six cup games to play in addition to their eight remaining league games, the 29-year-old said he and his teammates must remain fully attentive to the task in hand.

“I think the team is in a good mood now, winning a lot of games in a row (10),” he told club media. “We have to keep focused as we have over the last few weeks and even months. We have to focus on ourselves, that’s all.

“The title depends on what we do now, which is very important for us, and we will try to do our best. The end of the season is always the most important part of the season, so we can’t miss.

GUARDIOLA CALLS FOR ‘GREAT COURAGE’ IN BAYERN MUNICH DECIDER - Paul Brown - ManCity.com

Guardiola’s men are in top form at present, that first leg victory forming part of a current spell of 10 wins in succession.

But the boss is more than aware of the task his side will face when they meet the German champions in their own backyard.

He wants an ‘aggressive and positive’ approach to help ensure a semi-final tie against either Real Madrid or Chelsea.

He said: “We have a final in four days against Bayern Munich and I know the character and personality they have with their players and the mentality.

“We have to work a lot and be stable mentally in our bad moments.

\“We have to go there so aggressive to win the game, to score goals and win the game.

“This is the mindset I have - and I would like to put that in the mind of my players.

Pep Guardiola questions “risky” Manchester City decision during Leicester win - Harry Winters - City Xtra

John Stones opened the scoring with a smart half-volley before a brace from Erling Haaland, who became the joint top goalscorer for a single Premier League season with two quick-fire goals.

The Norwegian was one of five players to be taken off by Guardiola, as the Catalan made five changes ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich.

Stones, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Jack Grealish were also replaced, with the decision almost backfiring as the Blues came under intense pressure from a rejuvenated Leicester team.

Former City player Kelechi Iheanacho scored in the 75th minute, while the Nigerian also hit the post and James Maddison saw his effort saved by goalkeeper Ederson.

City hung on to secure an important three points but Guardiola has vowed to be more “careful” in future when choosing to make a series of significant changes in personnel.

“Maybe I did too much early, and I have to be careful,” said the City manager.

“There are so important players that everybody knows, it’s not necessary to be a manager to say how many players – for the minutes they have, the influence – are so important.

And finally... Six seconds of awesome to start the week. Seriously, funny.

Erling Haaland’s impression of John Stones has gone viral, Man City fans are loving it - Tom Young - Sport Bible

The now-viral clip was taken from a recent Manchester City YouTube video, in which Haaland, Stones and Ilkay Gundogan discussed some of their favourite travel destinations in the world.

After Haaland reveals his love for Abu Dhabi, Stones attempts to pitch in with a comment about the Louvre, a famous museum located on Saadiyat Island.

However, in typical British fashion, Stones butchers the pronunciation of the building - much to the delight of his Manchester City teammates - with Gundogan quickly correcting the Barnsley-born centre half with a more eloquent pronunciation of his own.

However it appears Haaland preferred Stones’ attempt, as the Norwegian striker proceeded to mimic his teammate in quite hilarious fashion.

Despite representing Norway - the birth country of his parents - Haaland himself is actually a Yorkshire boy too, having been born 25 miles up the road from Stones in Leeds, where his father was plying his trade at the time.

There you have it Cityzens. Stay with Bitter and Blue throughout the week as we prep for the Champions League second leg and the FA Cup semi against Sheffield United at Wembley. Sky Blue News returns tomorrow with more headlines.