Manchester City have been demolished 4-1 by Sporting CP in their latest Champions League match.
Manchester City started the game well at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, with Phil Foden capitalising on some sloppy play by Hidemasa Morita.
The England international carried the ball to the box and unleashed a fierce drive that was too hot for goalkeeper Franco Israel to handle.
City then dominated for most of the first-half, but couldn’t build on the early goal by Foden.
Erling Haaland had a number of chances, but could not convert.
Then, Viktor Gyokeres put Sporting level, after missing a glorious chance earlier in the half after going through one-vs-one against Ederson.
To go in at 1-1 was frustrating given the chances City had, and it was just another example of City’s backline looking vulnerable when playing so high up.
Then, it all fell apart. City started the second-half in the worst possible way, conceding within seconds through Max Araujo.
Things then went from bad to worse for City, as Josko Gvardiol clumsily gave away a penalty just seconds later. Gyokeres made no mistake from the spot.
City then squandered a chance to pull one back, with Haaland hitting the woodwork from the penalty spot.
To cap off a miserable night in Lisbon, Matheus Nunes then gave away a penalty after bringing down Geny Catamo. Gyokeres completed his hat-trick.
Fans think Man City are missing Rodri so badly, after latest defeat to Sporting
It is now three straight defeats for City, which is something that hardly ever happens under Guardiola.
The Spaniard has quite a number of issues to fix at the moment, but arguably, making his side deal with counterattacks better should be one of his main priorities.
For a lot of fans, City’s defensive frailties are thanks in-part to not being able to call on Rodri.
The Ballon d’Or winner is out for the foreseeable future, and many feel City just look a shadow of the team when he was fit and available.
Man City must buy a top defensive midfielder in January
Tonight’s performance against Sporting was extremely alarming.
Sporting are a great side, but City just looked so exposed all night and it is clear that Rodri is being missed massively at the moment.
Not only does he dominate games from a possession standpoint, he also provides that steel and solidity
On the evidence of this latest defeat, City quite simply have to go out and sign a high-quality defensive midfielder.
Or, Pep Guardiola needs to change the approach and the City defence needs to play much deeper, with two midfielders operating deep to do the job Rodri can do on his own.
