Last night's Manchester derby continued to expose the poor form of Pep Guardiola's army. Despite leading for 87 minutes, Man City still let their opponents come back with a series of serious mistakes from the defense.
Matheus Nunes, who was deployed as a full-back, made a fatal mistake in the first goal, when he made a careless pass back and directly fouled Amad Diallo in the penalty area.
With the second goal conceded, Man City's defense allowed the Ivorian midfielder to easily escape and defeat goalkeeper Ederson in less than 2 minutes. The two goals conceded at the end of the match made Pep Guardiola and his team regretful right at their home ground.
Up front, the core Erling Haaland continued to have a day to forget when he only had 1 shot. The Norwegian striker was completely blocked by Man United's defense and The Citizens could only score from a set piece thanks to a header from center back Gvardiol.
In the last 11 matches in all competitions, Man City have lost 8 matches and conceded 25 goals. Since the beginning of November, Pep Guardiola's team has conceded 23 goals - the worst record among clubs competing in Europe's top 5 tournaments.
The attack, once the pride of the Spanish coach, has only scored 15 goals during this period. Not only playing at a dead end, Man City's stars are going through a series of disappointing performances.
For example, Phil Foden had an explosive 2023-2024 season with 19 goals and 8 assists in 35 appearances. But last season's Premier League MVP has yet to score in 11 of his appearances in the competition this year. The unstoppable decline of strikers on the attack is putting pressure on striker Erling Haaland to score.
In terms of defense, Pep Guardiola is still having a headache with only 4 true defenders left. The move of Matheus Nunes to left-back and push Gvardiol into a centre-back position in the match against Man United continued to make him regret.
It was thought that Man City would make a strong comeback after the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, but the last 2 losses exposed the defending champions' fatal weakness. If they continue to play like a dream, Pep Guardiola and his team will likely have an empty season, something that no one of The Citizens would have thought of when entering the new season.
