Manchester City’s hopes of recording their first win in six matches went up in smoke in spectacular fashion after Pep Guardiola’s side conceded three goals against Feyenoord in just 14 minutes.
An Erling Haaland double either side of Ilkay Gundogan’s deflected effort appeared to have put the Premier League champions’ five-match losing streak behind them, with City in cruise control early in the second half.
But two glaring errors from defender Josko Gvardiol, and calamitous defending with fewer than two minutes of regulation time left, allowed the Dutch side to peg them back to a 3-3 draw. It leaves Guardiola’s side not only scrambling for automatic qualification, as one of the top eight seeds in Europe, but also on the end of the Catalan manager’s first-ever run of six matches without a win since taking charge.
Here is how the football world reacted.
Shearer: They look weak, they look light, they look frail
“Through stupid errors, lapses in concentration and inviting the opposition back into the game. City were in such a comfortable position, it’s all their own fault. [They were] cruising.”
“Conceding the way they did at the weekend, three again this evening. They look weak, they look light, they look frail. They’re giving the opposition far too many chances. They were cruising midway through this game. Whatever you do, you cannot give the opposition chances, give them a little bit of hope and that’s exactly what they did.
“Even when they were winning 3-2 with two minutes to go they tried to take a quick free-kick. Why? Kill the game. They were winning the game, there’s no reason to do that, sit on the ball. The game management was awful and they’ve been punished. It’s been an absolute disaster for them this evening after being in such a comfortable position.”
Andros Townsend: Comical defence
“I’m lost for words. It wasn’t vintage Manchester City but they were cruising. It was a comical defensive error from Josko Gvardiol that allowed Feyenoord back into the game and they capitulated. Gvardiol then gave the ball away for the second goal.
“For the third goal, there’s no need to play the high line when you are one minute away from a first win in six matches.
“In the end, all that hard work from City is undone, and the pressure now mounts even more ahead of the Premier League game against Liverpool.”
Stuart Pearce: Liverpool will be rubbing their hands together
“That will feel like a defeat. I don’t know what the City dressing room will be like in there, but they will be taking this like a defeat, there is no doubt about that. Quite incredible.
“Liverpool will be rubbing their hands together, especially the way they play, [Mohamed] Salah going in behind, [Luis] Diaz – the runs that they make with and without the ball I think they will look at this and think ‘this has got to be our tactic’, that’s the way they play.
Gael Clichy: We saw the same mistakes
“I’m lost for words. You can play the game again, we can talk about what just happened, but you win games and you lose games in both boxes. Going forward you need to be creative and you need to give them the freedom, but defensively there are things that are just rules for defenders that make it hard to defend. If there’s not pressure on the ball, you cannot have your line flat so high – you can if it’s your philosophy but you have to make sure you have the legs to cover.
“We’ve seen every single detail that we spoke about before the game actually happen, those details and mistakes happened in the game. So from a very comfortable game, 3-0 up, everyone’s going home comfortable thinking about the game against Liverpool, well you find yourself in a situation where you haven’t lost the game but it will feel like a defeat.”
Guardiola: Man City fans right to boo us
Pep Guardiola claimed the Manchester City fans were right to boo off his team after another extraordinary collapse as the manager admitted they were in for a “tough” season.
City conceded three times in 14 minutes late on against Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night to throw away a 3-0 lead just days after capitulating 4-0 at home to Tottenham.
Supporters reacted to the 3-3 draw – which dealt another blow to City’s hopes of automatic qualification for the Champions League knockout stages – by loudly booing the team at the final whistle.
The result extended City’s winless streak to six matches ahead of Sunday’s trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool and Guardiola said he had no complaints about the fans’ behaviour.
“In the last game against Tottenham, 0-4, the supporters were there, applause. They are disappointed of course and we understand it,” the City manager said. “People come here not to remember the success of the past, they come here to see the team win and perform well. I am not the one when the situation is bad or good [to say] what they have to do.
“These supporters, when we go away, our fans are amazing, travelling. There is nothing to do and they are right to express what they feel.”
City have conceded 13 goals in their past four games and Guardiola said he was now braced for a difficult season ahead. “It will be a tough season for us and we have to accept it for many circumstances,” he said.
“Today, unfortunately the game was well done and we couldn’t punish them in the right moment. The team was so committed in many, many things, but unfortunately in the moment something happens we are not strong enough. We have to try and avoid those mistakes.
“It is what it is, difficult to swallow right now. The game was good, we played well, we scored three and could have scored more. We do everything and then we give away [bad goals], especially the first one, and after we are not stable enough to do it.
“It’s not about not running or no commitment, but football you have to be [switched on] in certain moments.”
Josko Gvardiol made blunders for Feyenoord’s first two goals after an error-strewn display against Spurs, and Guardiola said the 22-year-old Croatia defender would need looking after at this moment.
“He is so young, he will learn. It will be a good experience,” Guardiola said. “The way he has played – he was the best player on the pitch – but I will be so wrong if I point to a specific thing for our defeat. He is young and he will learn. He is a fantastic player, fantastic boy and now more than ever must be helped.”
Guardiola sported a number of scratch marks on his face and a cut to his nose after repeatedly fidgeting with his face during the game. He had cut his nose, he said, after catching himself with a finger nail and later joked: “I want to harm myself.”
