Manchester City In Crisis Ahead Of Champions League Match

Manchester City must find a solution in the crisis they are facing (Instagram/@mancity).

JAKARTA - Manchester City's successive defeats changed from four to five matches after losing to Tottenham Hotspur 0-4 at the Etihad Stadium, Sunday, November 24, 2024.

With the return of the players from injury and doubts about Pep Guardiola's future having disappeared with a new contract, the international break should be a bit of a start for The Citizens.

However, Spurs showed the vulnerability of the Manchester City defense, thanks in large part to the brilliant performance of Dejan Kulusevski. While Erling Haaland had a bad day on the other hand.

It's too early to ignore Guardiola's team in a title race that hasn't even started yet. However, the Spaniard is now increasingly entering areas that have not been mapped.

He has never lost five games in a row as a manager and has never lost three Premier League games in a row as Manchester City boss. That's not a record he's used to.

"When we lost 0-4, nothing can be said other than congratulated Tottenham," said Guardiola.

"We are a bit fragile at the moment, that's clear. We struggled to score, but instead they scored."

"We played a little bit in our minds, a little negative, but this is normal," he said again.

At first, everything looked fine in the match against Spurs. The hosts gave Rodri a loud applause as he showed off the Ballon d'Or for the first time.

When the game started, they started singing to appreciate Guardiola, who signed his new two-year contract on Thursday.

For 10 minutes, Manchester City dominated. Haaland had two golden chances to score.

It was only a matter of time before the Spurs goal conceded and the tap of the goal would flow fast.

However, maybe this isn't the same team. Maybe it's not fair to expect them with Rodri, the center player to be the focus, to sit in the stands rather than on the pitch.

When everyone expects the Spurs to collapse soon, the destruction will actually be experienced by Manchester City.

Spurs only need three minutes to control the ball before they press. Kulusevski's pass was executed quickly and precisely by James Maddison to open the scoring in the 13th minute.

Maddison executed Kulusevski's pass with a close-range volley to score on his 28th birthday.

Son Heung-min then forced Ederson to make a fantastic full save. Shortly thereafter, the South Korean captain sent an assist to make Maddison's birthday even more lively.

Maddison scored the second goal after seven minutes of opening the scoring.

In the midst of heavy rain, Guardiola took off his coat as if he had sent a message to his players that it was time to work hard.

This reminds the memory of January 2023 when Spurs won 2-0 at Etihad before Manchester City got up to win 4-2.

The problem is, there's no response this time. Pedro Porro scored third after halftime and substitute! Johnson, scored fourth in second-half injury time to seal a brilliant win.

It was Manchester City's first defeat at Etihad for more than two years. At the same time, their biggest home defeat in the league since losing 1-5 to Arsenal in February 2003.

For the first time in a long time, Guardiola has a problem to solve.

Without Rodri and Mateo Kovacic, Manchester City's midfield consisting of Ilkay Gundogan, Rico Lewis, and Bernardo Silva was trampled on by Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr from Spurs.

Gundogan is very bad. He was unable to keep pace with Spurs' attack speeds, although he was not alone in that regard.

Kyle Walker looks like anyone else. His mistake in creating Spurs' fourth goal was when the Brito Werner passed by Timo Werner who sent an assist for Johnson.

Manchester City have now conceded 14 goals in their last five games and would be worse if Ederson had not made three good saves.

In six home league games so far this season, The Citizens have conceded the first of four games.

"It was a great game to turn things around, to take the three points from the team above you."

"However, we cannot perform like that (against Tottenham) because we will be trampled on there," Walker said.

This is what is called a mistake into a crisis. Guardiola clearly has to find a solution considering that the next two matches will be very important.

Manchester City will play the Champions League match against Feyennoord on November 27, 2024, early morning WIB, and travel to Anfield on December 1, 2024.

They had to stop five consecutive defeats in all of these events, the record for the longest first defeat in 18 years for The Citizens.

Victory is a fixed price against the Eredivisie club in the Champions League to enter the top eight or a straight pass to the knockout stages.

While facing Liverpool, victory led them to be champions again in the race for the Premier League title this season.

If they lose at Anfield, everyone will play Manchester City in the race for the league trophy.