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Manchester City were held by Monaco following a late Eric Dier penalty.
Pep Guardiola was questioned by BBC Sport on Friday regarding his concerns over Manchester City’s tendency to concede late goals.
“I have many concerns,” he stated. “But not this one.”
Guardiola may now be re-evaluating that assessment.
Manchester City relinquished their lead twice on Wednesday night in the Champions League, ultimately drawing 2-2 against Monaco. Eric Dier, the England defender, secured the final equalizer with a composed penalty in the 90th minute.
Erling Haaland, the prolific goal scorer, continued his impressive form by netting both of City’s goals, but offered a critical evaluation of the team’s overall performance.
“Of course, I don’t feel good that we didn’t win,” the Norwegian player told TNT Sport. “We do something unnecessarily in the second half and we don’t think we played good enough. We don’t deserve to win.”
“We need more energy. We need to get at them more as we did in the first half and dominated much more. In the second half they took the lead much more and I don’t think it is good enough.”
“Every Champions League game is tough, look at last year when we went out. There are not many teams who have won their first two games.”
Dier earns draw for Monaco despite Haaland goals
City were poised to secure consecutive wins in this season’s Champions League, but Dier’s composed, last-minute penalty rescued a draw for Monaco.
Guardiola’s squad remains unbeaten in their last six matches, yet a concerning pattern of conceding late goals is beginning to emerge.
They have conceded eight goals in all competitions thus far, with half of those occurring during crucial periods in each half.
23 August: 2-0 home defeat against Tottenham, conceding in the third minute of injury time in the first half.
31 August: 2-1 loss at Brighton, conceding in the 89th minute.
21 September: 1-1 draw at Arsenal, conceding in the 93rd minute.
1 October: 2-2 draw at Monaco, conceding in the 90th minute.
This trend has cost City three points in the Premier League due to goals conceded in the 89th minute or later – which would have placed them level on points with second-placed Arsenal – and an additional two points in the Champions League.
The match also represented a missed opportunity to rectify their recent poor away record in Europe, as they have now failed to secure a win in their last five away games in the competition.
The result compounds the disappointment of the previous season, which saw them fail to win a major trophy, be eliminated from the Champions League in the play-off round, and finish third in the Premier League.
“You wouldn’t panic,” said former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt on Match of the Day. “Everyone wants to win their games and get the adulation of what a great team you are but it is not normal to keep doing it year on year.
“Man City have done it for so many years but they are having a bit of a struggle over the last couple of years. They have players who can turn games and win you big competitions and trophies.
“They will be there or thereabouts, they just have to get the squad together and be fit coming in to the new year.”
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Butt discusses ‘stupid’ Man City defending for late Monaco penalty
As time dwindled, Dier stooped to head a free-kick toward the goal, but was instead struck in the head by City substitute Nico Gonzalez.
The former Tottenham player exhibited remarkable composure to convert the penalty, despite a delay of over five minutes due to a combination of the referee reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor and a disagreement between the two sets of staff.
Guardiola suggested that Gonzalez “touches the ball first” and had “no intention” of fouling Dier, while Haaland commented that he had not reviewed the incident, “but if you kick someone in the face, I guess it is a penalty”.
Butt added: “It is a bit lazy from the defenders. Dier made a strong, aggressive run from deep and the defenders let him bully them.
“There was not much contact but a really stupid thing to do in the box in such a big game in the last minute. There was no doubt they were going to give a penalty. You just have to see the picture for one second on the screen and it is a penalty in European football.”
Former City defender Nedum Onuoha noted that it was “good to see an Englishman scoring penalties” in a World Cup year.
However, it did not provide a pleasant experience for Manchester City.
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Pep has ‘nothing to say’ to the ref on late Monaco penalty
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