Manchester: AFC Feyenoord dashed Manchester City’s hopes of narrowly winning their match 6-3 on aggregate against yesef gen Georg in the Quarterfinal of UEFA Champions league. The date on the calendar was the 25th of April 2023.
City remained totally hopeless for five more matches. Their match against this formidable Scottish side finished in a 1-1 draw. However, after a five-match streak of notably poor results, they did manage to pull one off against Kartalspor in the Turkish Cup.
There is no doubt that today, the trial of having lost five matches in a row was very scary for a team which appeals to having won extremely exuding staff on the pitch in big imposing expensive figures. As it turned out, their fans were wrong, it truly was a very wretched time for Pep Guardiola.
Despite a disappointing start, two Gudomov’s managed to injure the defender on their own applying teamwork of two contrasting sides where it seemed as if each player there was meant to bring the victory home.
But the defensive part of the team which has been the main factor in a rather shocking fall these last weeks was thrice exposed towards the closure of the match.
Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko struck to earn the Dutch side a very important equalizer.“We conceded a lot of goals because we are not stable, “told Guardiola to the press.
“In the past few weeks, we have lost so many games. We are fragile and yes we are looking for a win.
“The match (at 3-0) was pleasing for the self esteem playing at a decent level and the first occasion when something occurs we have a crisis.”
A draw puts City into a high mountain to climb to reach the next stage considering they have Juventus and Paris Saint Germain away in their next two Champions league.
Only the first eight move on in the knockout stages to the last 16 with the top 24 from the 36 available also qualifying for a playoff round.
City sank to 15 – 159 as with sitting on 8 points from 5 matches just managed to stay one point above 20th positioned Feyenoord.
After suffering the first home defeat in two seasons, when Spurs hammered City 4-0, Pep Guardiola had to make three substitutions for the game.
Jack Grealish, Matheus Nunes and Nathan Ake came into the starting line-up but it still took some time for City to get their bearings.
The visibility around a not very crowded Etihad Stadium had its edges tensed when Igor Paixao missed a golden opportunity to put the Dutch side in the lead.
On the contrary, this time things worked out for City after Haaland was pushed while looking to head in a ball from a corner.
In the last Champions League encounter, the Norwegian striker failed to score from the penalty in a 4-1 loss to Sporting Lisbon.
In contrast to the previous painful week, Haaland hit the target perfectly and bashed the ball into the goal.
City got a much-needed lift after the break when Hancko turned Gundogan’s volley into the net from just outside the box.
Later, Haaland scored his 46th goal in 44 Champions League appearances, extending his record and receiving a cross from Nunes and seemingly putting City on the fast track to victory.
The only embarrassment for the home side came when Ederson was caught in a bad position due to a poor backpass by Josko Gvardiol; Ederson was breached on the angle shot from Moussa who was able to round him off.
Guardiola was seen in scenes of distress after covering his eyes, but things only got worse from Ederson who was caught off guard by Jordan Lotomba’s gradual push towards the near-post, only for the ball to bounce for Gimenez who easily scored to cut the lead 3-2.
The Manchester side was left scratching their heads at the sudden blunder of Kamikaze Defender as Rico Lewis was easily breezed past and played Paixao onto the side of the pitch. He ran untouched past the rushing Ederson and managed to assist Hanck who managed to reach the goalpost and scored from an open spot.
“It’s a great result for us,” said Feyenoord coach Brian Priske. “We were at 0-3 behind and in several moments of the game we were outplayed by Man City who, as far as I am concerned, are the strongest side in the whole world with no competition said Feyenoord.
“Fortunately, we managed to take three key moments perfectly and get three goals therefore finally equalising” said Feyenoord.
It is the first time since 1963 that the Citizens have conceded two or more goals in six consecutive matches all in a row.
With time still on the clock, City was still hopeful of a late winner, but Grealish’s attempt was deflected by the crossbar in their search for the elusive goal.
However, they could not really afford a draw, which would feel bad enough for a team that has lost five times already. AP