Pressing Issues

Manchester City had battled through a tough first half against Paris Saint-Germain and looked to be reaping the rewards of the fight when they scored two goals in three minutes to take a 2-0 lead.

City have long been imperious in their ability to ‘see out’ a game – in years gone by the Blues would have held possession, wound the clock down and left the Paris rain with something to show for themselves.

Yet as evidenced by this being the sixth time City have failed to convert a leading position to a win since November, they have developed a real affinity for failing to convert good positions into victory.

Spark of Uncertainty

City, despite holding just 36% possession in the first half, would find themselves 2-0 up at the 55 minute mark. They were second-best in shots, big chances, duels and almost every metric, but were ahead in the one stat that matters.

Yet PSG would not stop probing, and when Fabian Ruiz’ intelligent movement dragged defender Manuel Akanji forwards, it left dangerous youngster Bradley Barcola one on one with fill-in right-back Matheus Nunes.

Nunes may as well have not been there as Barcola flicked it past him with absolute ease, ran into the acres of space Akanji and City’s high line had vacated, and provided Ousmane Dembele with the simplest of finishes.

PSG had looked likely to score all night, and came up with the goods just as the City fans in the away end were starting to get comfortable.

Panic Stations

In the five minutes between PSG’s first and second goal, City turned possession over to the home side seven times – three of these times in their own half.

Pep Guardiola’s City are notorious for dominating possession and limiting the number of turnovers – in recognition that they can be vulnerable if caught in transition. Yet the panic triggered within the City players by PSG’s first goal left them vulnerable.

These constant turnovers left City on the back foot, culminating in PSG’s equalier – when a loose pass was picked up by the PSG midfield and led to the game becoming 2-2.

Guardiola made three changes at this point in a bid to calm things down for City and to try to reestablish themselves. The substitutes didn’t make much of an impact: City were being bullied.

Midfielders Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Mateo Kovacic only won 12/27 ground duels between them throughout the game (compared to PSG’s Joao Neves who won 10 by himself). The three simply couldn’t deal with the defensive work required of them.

The barrage of PSG attacks left the City defence evidently shaken and drained. Whether or not this played a part in the poor marking and lack of clearance with the free kick that gave the home side their lead in the 78th minute, cannot be said for certain, but it’s another defensive mistake to add to a recent catalog of errors.

Concerns for Pep

As previously mentioned, this is the sixth occasion since November that City have failed to win from a winning position. And while an away loss to PSG is on paper, more ‘acceptable’ than conceding two late goals to Brighton, Feyenoord, Manchester United and Brentford as they have in recent weeks, Guardiola may well leave Paris with a new worry.

The Citizens were absolutely and categorically outplayed. They had just 37% possession, conceded 2.75 expected goals (their third highest all season), and only posed a threat on the counterattack.

Guardiola remarked that “They were fast. The best team won. The game was never like we wanted.”

It has been one of City’s most notable strengths in recent years that they have been able to dictate a game’s tempo, but the absolute failure to assert themselves into the game – especially after taking a 2-0 lead against the run of play, should be of great concern to those at City.

PSG were excellent, but they should not have been able to overpower Guardiola’s side the way they did.