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At the very least it was not a sixth successive defeat. And that, maybe, is the one comfort Pep Guardiola and Manchester Metropolis might derive. Even with out dropping, they contrived to be the good losers of a outstanding, ridiculous evening. Guardiola has gained a Premier League with a three-goal comeback on the Etihad Stadium. Right here, he misplaced a lead with one.
For Feyenoord it was a spectacular, seminal fightback: 3-0 down after 74 minutes, they took an unbelievable level with an unimaginable response. For his or her hosts, it confirmed a self-destructive streak that appeared confined to the times when Joe Royle talked of “Cityitis” has returned and the defensive fragility that Guardiola lamented when Tottenham beat his Metropolis 4-0 on Saturday stays. “It’s tough to swallow now,” he stated.
He defended an errant defender when he might have cursed his near-namesake: Josko Gvardiol had a surprising quarter of an hour when he was culpable for at the least two targets. “We’re a crew who concede few, few targets over these eight or 9 years,” stated Guardiola. Now, for the primary time since 1963, Metropolis have conceded at the least two in six successive matches.
Within the area of quarter-hour, Metropolis dropped from fifth to fifteenth within the Champions League desk. From the jaws of their first victory in a month, Metropolis snatched ignominy. A crew who was once outlined by management ended with chaos. Whilst they might have gained it, Jack Grealish hanging the bar with a deflected effort in injury-time, they’ve not often regarded as flawed or as fraught. Even when Feyenoord couldn’t observe within the footsteps of Tottenham (twice), Bournemouth, Brighton and Sporting CP, Metropolis appeared a crew falling aside.
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“We’re not capable of win video games,” rued Guardiola. The unexpectedly prolonged quest of a 682nd win of his managerial profession will take him to Anfield on Sunday, perhaps considering a sixth defeat in seven. Maybe, too, because the Feyenoord followers chorused the identify of Arne Slot, it was ideas of Liverpool that led him astray. Three targets to the nice, he introduced off Nathan Ake and Ilkay Gundogan, seemingly looking for to spare the legs of every. “The sport was not at risk,” stated Guardiola. The kids Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and James McAtee have been amongst these to come back on and if neither was the wrongdoer in chief within the subsequent collapse, Metropolis appeared powerless to withstand the Feyenoord tide.
Guardiola regarded as if he feared the worst once they scored their first; his head was in his fingers after a primary mistake by Gvardiol, who gave the ball to Anis Hadj Moussa to fit in. Then it appeared as if the implications have been merely that clear sheets proceed to elude Metropolis and defensive difficulties to canine Gvardiol.
However he was at fault because the ball was given away once more and two Feyenoord substitutes mixed. Jordan Lotomba’s shot from an acute angle was kicked on to the put up by Ederson and Santiago Gimenez marked his first look for 2 months by chesting the ball over the road.
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If the goalkeeper might need completed higher there, he was positively at fault for the equaliser, caught in no’s man land, charging exterior his field as Igor Paixao headed the ball previous him and, from an acute angle, confirmed the presence of thoughts to loft a cross to the far put up for the on-rushing David Hancko to go in to cap his personal all-action show. “Three episodes,” sighed Guardiola.
It meant that, ridiculously, Metropolis have now conceded 13 targets in 4 video games. They’ve misplaced a lead in three of them; however not like this. They have been the primary facet in Champions League historical past to be three targets forward within the seventy fifth minute and nonetheless not win.
What adopted altered the complexion of these three targets, scored in 10 minutes both facet of half-time. Metropolis have been nonetheless uninspired for the primary 40 minutes, solely actually threatening when Erling Haaland headed in opposition to the put up and Phil Foden contrived to dam Jack Grealish’s goalbound volley.
Then fortune favoured them, referee Radu Petrescu ruling that Quentin Timber had fouled Haaland within the field. The Norwegian had struck the bar with a penalty in Portugal. There have been roars of reduction when he dispatched his subsequent spot kick.
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Whereas Haaland confirmed his predatory streak, Gundogan demonstrated his method to double the lead. He related sweetly with a left-footed volley from the sting of the field, even when goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther could have been defeated by the deflection off Hancko. Premier League targets have eluded Gundogan since his return to Metropolis however this was a 3rd already within the Champions League. After his wretched afternoon in opposition to Tottenham got here what appeared a restorative night that included an element within the third objective. Then Gundogan performed the penetrative cross to launch Matheus Nunes whose low centre was transformed by a sliding Haaland. “Three-zero down, you suppose it will be an extended night,” stated Feyenoord supervisor Brian Priske.
Sport over, or so Guardiola thought. He had signalled a part of his pondering for Anfield by dropping Kyle Walker and opting to not give Kevin De Bruyne a primary begin since September. Extra got here with the substitutions. However they backfired.
Whilst Metropolis prolonged their unbeaten run at residence in Europe to 34 video games, this was solely a fifth attract that point. There could possibly be penalties, too: they most likely have to beat each Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain away to get a top-eight end. However to begin with, they should beat somebody, anybody. As a result of Manchester Metropolis, the crew that couldn’t cease profitable, now can’t begin.
