Totally unexpected, Manchester City lost points in an upset! Guardiola s tactical failure: The 5th battle is in danger!

In the 36th round of the Premier League, Southampton, the deputy squad leader who has been relegated early, faces Manchester City at home. Manchester City has been in excellent shape recently, with 7 wins and 2 draws in the last 9 games in various competitions. Before the game, facing Southampton, both the fans and the media were basically speculating on how many goals Manchester City would win. But unexpectedly, Southampton performed extremely well throughout the game, and his tenacious defense reached the last moment. Finally, the game ended, and Southampton tied the powerful Manchester City with an upset 0:0.

First half: After the opening of the game, Southampton, who was not strong enough, set off a intensive defensive position at the beginning. Manchester City has completely gained the advantage of possession, constantly looking for opportunities to shoot through penetration. In the 10th minute, De Bruyne passed the free kick to the back point, and Towns made a wonderful extreme clearance! In the 30th minute, Manchester City, which had a full siege, won a good opportunity. De Bruyne took the ball and broke through, and was directly knocked down by the defensive player about one meter in the penalty area line. Manchester City got a set ball slightly opposite the goal and had an excellent position!

De Bruyne shot with a curved shot, regrettingly over the crossbar! 40 minutes later, Southampton launched two counterattacks, causing some chaos to Manchester City's defense. In the 43rd minute, Kovacic broke through with the ball alone, causing Ugoshuku to foul. Manchester City once again got a good positioner, but De Bruyne's shot hit the wall directly. During the subsequent corner kick, Akanji headed the ball from a close distance and then missed the front post. At the end of the half-time game, neither team scored.

Halftime comments

Manchester City can be said to have the advantage throughout the first half, whether it is possession or shooting, almost completely suppressing Southampton near the penalty area.

In fact, Southampton is not very good at defense. It can only be said that Manchester City has no way to face this situation, the rhythm is lacking, and the shooting is basically concentrated outside the penalty area. Haaland has not played the role it deserves. Therefore, the team has an advantage but does not create an absolute opportunity to score.

For Guardiola, in addition to personnel adjustments in the second half, it also needs to emphasize the changes in the rhythm, and the tactical routines should be more abundant. Of course, we should also pay attention to Southampton's counterattack. After all, the only few counterattacks in the first half have already had initial power.

Second half: Guardiola failed to adjust

The midfielder came back, and Guardiola replaced Doku with the intention of changing the rhythm of the offense from the wing. After Doku came on the court, the offense on the left side immediately achieved immediate results, and continued breakthroughs, posing a considerable threat to Southampton's defense. In the 57th minute, Foden and B's consecutive shots in the penalty area were blocked by the defensive players! In the 63rd minute, Duoku successfully broke through the wing, and the backward triangle was passed back. The unguarded B-shi shot hard and was cleared by Stephens' goal line! Seeing that 65 minutes passed and Manchester City had not broken through the goal for a long time, Southampton began to make adjustments on the offensive end. In the 70th minute, Manchester City's corner kick entered the penalty area, and Akanji headed the ball and was saved by the goalkeeper. O'Reilly and Savigno appeared to further strengthen the offensive. In the 83rd minute, De Bruyne passed to the back point, Haaland swung to the goal, and Savigno, who followed, shot, was saved from the baseline by the goalkeeper again. Just one minute later, Rubendias' header was pushed out of the crossbar by the goalkeeper. In stoppage time, Malmush steals and shoots directly to hit the crossbar and pops up! Although he tried his best to attack, he still failed to score in the end, and the two teams finally got a tie.

Summary

Whether it is strength or recent state, Manchester City has the upper hand. However, it is indeed too surprising that the team was tied by the deputy squad leader. The main problem is that the team was not excited enough in the first half. Although they had the advantage, they did not flexibly use the changes in rhythm to open the opponent's goal. After returning from the second half, although Guardiola replaced several players, they had certain effects, they never broke through the opponent's goal. In addition, Marmush played a bit late, and if he was given about 30 minutes, it would be possible to rewrite the score.

After getting a draw, Manchester City's ranking is temporarily at third place, but Newcastle United, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa behind them already have the opportunity to catch up or even overtake. Whether Manchester City can stay in the top five depends on their performance in the last two rounds.