Nathan Ake exposes what went wrong for Man City in ‘difficult’ draw with Feyenoord

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Manchester City failed to get back to winning ways in their latest Champions League match.

Tuesday night saw City take on Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium, just three days after losing 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

Off the back of five consecutive defeats, Pep Guardiola’s side got themselves a comfortable 3-0 lead in the second half against the Dutch club but ended up conceding a trio of goals in the final 20 minutes of the match to walk away with one point and a 3-3 scoreline.

After the match, one figure from City’s squad who played through the majority of the game, opened up on what he saw from his side in their latest outing.

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Nathan Ake drops Man City verdict after Feyenoord draw

After completing 69 minutes before being subbed off for Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Nathan Ake went on to address the media after seeing his side capitulate in the final 20 minutes, saying this to Amazon Prime Video Sport about the match.

He said: “Difficult. 3-0 up and we played quite well and were under control, but then it all changed.

“You just have to stay strong mentally. At 3-1, they then push on but I think we need to go for it a bit earlier so we could keep the pressure on them, but we stayed playing at the back and maybe invited more pressure on us.

“Then when you concede the second one there is even more pressure and then we have to stay stronger mentally.”

When asked if he thinks City gave the game away, the Dutchman gave this response: “Yes I think we did. If you are 3-0 up at home you can never give it away like this. It is what it is at the moment. The only thing we can do is fight back and stay strong.

“When you are three goals up it feels like a defeat when you give up three goals at home. It is tough now, a tough night, but the only thing we can do is look forward to the next one. Liverpool is a big game and it is another challenge to overcome.”

Ake was then asked if City’s poor run of form is down to a mental issue, to which he said this: “Maybe it is. It is difficult to say. Obviously we have not been in this situation many times but this is where we have to show our character.

“When everything seems to go against us and everyone is writing us off, we have to stay strong mentally, believe in ourselves and stick together.

“Every season there is a period when they write us off. We have to make sure we stay strong as a team and staff and make sure we get out of it.”

Stuart Pearce was ‘wowed’ by City’s draw with Feyenoord

Ake wasn’t the only person to share their thoughts on the match, as Stuart Pearce assessed City’s draw by sharing how stunned he was by the overall result.

He said: “I have been in this stadium many times over the last few years and I have been wowed by what I’ve seen. I have been wowed by that. City will be taking this like a defeat.

“All the things we spoke about before the match, they were all there in the second half. The high line, individual errors. That’s what has lost them the lead.

“I suspect there will be one or two home truths in the dressing room. Credit to Feyenoord. They kept going and kept going and their fans and celebrating like they have won the league.”

With Ake now sharing some insight into what went wrong on the night for the Blues, everyone in the City squad should be aware of what they need to work on during their time at the training ground and what they need to show in their upcoming matches.

On that subject, the Citizens have some big Premier League matches against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa coming up, with their next Champions League clash seeing them take on Juventus away from home.

Taking that on board, City need to fix as many issues as they can if they want to get through this upcoming period in a much more positive manner than they have recently.