Manchester City were put to the sword by a superior Leicester City team.
Manchester City had one of their worst performances of the Pep Guardiola era as they conceded three penalties and leaking five goals after leading 1-0 against Leicester City. The absolute meltdown will be chalked up to injuries, but this could just be the tip of the iceberg in what could be another long season.
City were arrogant, complacent, and showed none of the drive of two seasons ago. That feels so distant now, and this team could be staring down the barrel of another long year.
Defense
Ederson (GK): Not particularly at fault for anything, but one penalty save in three attempts would have been nice. (5)
Kyle Walker (RB): Gave away a terrible and obvious penalty that sparked the Leicester rout. (4.5)
Eric García (CB): Was City’s best defender by far in the first half before watching his teammate Walker and copying him identically for penalty number two. (5)
Nathan Aké (CB): By scoring a goal and being the only member of the City backline to not concede a penalty, he’s the best by default. (6)
Benjamin Mendy (LB): We’ve been dancing around warning signs for some time now: this is not a Manchester City-caliber player if they truly hope to win the biggest trophies. Was routinely targeted and regularly beaten, offered nothing going forward, and gave away penalty number three for good measure. (3)
Midfield
Rodri (CDM): Perhaps the embodiment of City’s complacency, he was nowhere to be found when Leicester were marauding the backline and failed to quicken the tempo moving forward. (4.5)
Fernandinho (CDM): City weren’t doing much when he was on the pitch, so it seemed natural that Pep Guardiola would go back to his normal one holding midfielder setup. What a mistake that was in hindsight. City absolutely fell apart without the Brazilian. (6)
Kevin De Bruyne (CAM): Got his fair share of touches, but couldn’t come up with anything special. (5.5)
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Attack
Riyad Mahrez (RW): Scored one of the best goals you’ll see with his weaker foot then completely disappeared. This showing pretty much sums up the only weakness in his game: inconsistency. Some games he’s absolutely unplayable, and others, he can’t get a touch. Even if he’s not scoring, if he were causing problems and making defenders think, it would be fine. Consistency is the only thing that puts him a tier below the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané. (6)
Raheem Sterling (ST): Simply put, not a striker. Guardiola has tried it regularly, and it just does not work. He had no good options this game, but Liam Delap simply fits the position better and should start going forward. (5)
Phil Foden (LW): Gave the ball away uncharacteristically often and looked frustrated and unable to really get involved. (5)
Substitutes
Liam Delap (ST): It’s truly sad when a 17-year old youth player gives more off the bench than a team of world-class players behind him could muster for 90 minutes, but his header off the bar was the best chance of the day outside of the goals, and it came from absolutely nothing. Unlucky, and should be first choice moving forward. (6)
Ferran Torres (LW): Came in and couldn’t turn the tide of the game. There’s a really talented player here, but City have just not seen it in his early days at the club. (5)