Manchester City spins in a fateful spiral. It started with one misfortune, then another added, and another, and another. This way since September. Today Christmas is approaching like a storm. All accidents harm Guardiola’s team. If there is a rejection, it goes the other way. If there is a rebound, it benefits the rival. If a goalkeeper works a prodigy, it is the opposition’s. If a ball lands on the goal line, and it is the line that Ederson takes care of, it is a goal against. This is how Vlahovic made it 1-0. For the brave ones. After two centers into the pot, a piece of luck that has become the terror of the blue defense. City controlled the match for almost an hour. He had the opportunities. He had the ball. But Juventus, garrisoned in their area, enjoyed a cruise. The final 2-0 puts the English team in serious trouble. In 22nd position, on the edge of direct elimination, tied on eight points with PSV and Dinamo Zagreb.
2
Michele Di Gregorio, Pierre Kalulu, Nicolò Savona, Federico Gatti, Danilo, Teun Koopmeiners, Khéphren Thuram (Weston McKennie, min. 68), Francisco Conceição (Timothy Weah, min. 68), Kenan Yildiz (Samuel Mbangula, min. 83) , Manuel Locatelli and Dusan Vlahovic (Douglas Luiz, min. 84)
0
Ederson, Rico Lewis, Kyle Walker, Josko Gvardiol, Rúben Dias, Jérémy Doku (Savinho, min. 78), Ilkay Gündogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish (Matheus Nunes, min. 86), Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland
Goals
1-0 min. 52: Dusan Vlahovic. 2-0 min. 74: Weston McKennie
Referee Clement Turpin
yellow cards
Grealish (min. 83), Michele Di Gregorio (min. 84), Bernardo Silva (min. 85)
On January 22 at the Parc des Princes, PSG, virtually eliminated with seven points, will face City in a decisive duel. With two days left in the league, the tournament takes on dramatic overtones. In their current state of insecurity and fear, the City squad plunged with a crash into the whirlpool of emotions. Gündogan stood out several heads above the rest of the other companions. The German played a tremendous game in his effort to give balance to his team and finish the last play. Most of his teammates accompanied him, generous in trying to control a Juventus team that just waited for the inevitable accident. McKennie made it 2-0 after a counterattack and added to the gloomy statistic. City have only won one of the last ten games played.
“They scored two goals and we didn’t, that was the explanation for the result,” lamented Guardiola, who was pessimistic about the possibility of qualifying directly among the top eight, for which he would need to win the two remaining games and enjoy of a few caroms. “We played a very good game. We lacked the last pass in the final third. When your four central defenders and Kovacic, who is the pivot, are injured, it is not easy, but the game is there. The results will come.”
In other relevant matches of the day, Feyenoord beat Sparta Prague 2-0 and aimed for the round of 32 with 10 points; Milan added 12, beating Red Star 2-1 and is one step away from the round of 16; and Arsenal consolidated their position in the top eight with 13 points after beating Monaco 3-0.
