Pep Guardiola's tenure at Manchester City will not enjoy the dream ending. On Tuesday night, the Sky Blues' hopes of reclaiming the Premier League title came to an end. Following Arsenal's win over Burnley on Monday night, the Citizens had to beat Bournemouth by the South Coast but, after Eli Junior Kroupi's stunning early opener, Erling Braut Håland's thunderous strike could only salvage a draw, meaning it was Mikel Arteta who was celebrating.
Meantime, it has been widely reported that Sunday's clash with Aston Villa at the Etihad will be Guardiola's farewell, waving goodbye having hoisted aloft both the FA Cup and EFL Cups this season this, but neither one of the two he would've really wanted. Man City were not able to recover from falling behind at Dean Court, something that has rather been a theme of this season.
Premier League 25/26: Points gained from losing positions
Points gained from losing positions | Clubs |
|---|---|
22 | Sunderland |
20 | Aston Villa |
16 | Bournemouth |
15 | Brighton & Manchester United |
14 | Fulham, Nottingham Forest & Chelsea |
10 | Burnley, Everton & Leeds |
9 | West Ham, Brentford, Palace & Arsenal |
7 | Tottenham |
5 | Wolves, Liverpool & Manchester City |
3 | Newcastle United |
Note: Statistics courtesy of Football365.
Amazingly, only Newcastle have recovered fewer points from losing positions than Manchester City this season, with Tuesday's draw in Dorset taking the Citizens' tally to just five all season. The only other times they have done this were both on Merseyside. Jérémy Doku lashed home that 97th minute equaliser against Everton earlier this month, which ultimately proved very much in vein, while they also memorable came from behind to beat Liverpool late at Anfield in February.
The other five occasions Guardiola's team have gone behind, they have lost, beaten by Tottenham, Brighton, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Manchester United. For comparison, Arsenal have recovered nine points from losing positions, coming from behind to beat Bournemouth and Newcastle on the road as well as drawing with Chelsea, Sunderland and Man City themselves. That is not a huge tally, but ultimately proved to be the difference.
So, how does this miserly five points compare to previous Guardiola campaigns?
Manchester City PL points recovered from losing positions per season
Season | Points earnt when losing | League rank |
|---|---|---|
2025/26 | 5 | 19th |
2024/25 | 20 | 4th |
2023/24 | 24 | 3rd |
2022/23 | 7 | 19th |
2021/22 | 9 | 15th |
2020/21 | 8 | 15th |
2019/20 | 10 | 12th |
Note: All statistics courtesy of Football365.
The statistics season-on-season do make for interesting reading. Recovering points from losing positions was never really Man City's strong suit, albeit this is skewed by the fact they are infrequently actually behind. However, in the last two seasons, this is something they have really excelled at, salvaging a whopping 24 points in 2023/24 and 20 last time round.
This season though, that has not been the case and, for all the narrative, it is actually Arsenal who have shown the greater mentality and psychological fortitude when it really counted. With Guardiola departing and Enzo Maresca coming in, who knows what the future holds for this team.
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