Manchester City faced another disappointing result on October 1, 2024, after drawing 2-2 with AS Monaco in a highly anticipated encounter. Main man Erling Haaland put in a terrific showing, netting City’s two goals. Unfortunately, the defense still wasn’t able to seal the victory. This final put another chapter in City’s long fight in this tournament so far. Their away winless streak has now rolled over into a 2nd year.
It certainly set the tone for a colorful night in Monaco. Both teams battled tooth and nail to earn the needed three points to move on from the group stage of the tournament. Pep Guardiola’s side, featuring a lineup that included Gianluigi Donnarumma, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O’Reilly, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders, Jérémy Doku, and Erling Haaland, started strong but failed to maintain their momentum.
A Tale of Two Halves
City then quickly went on the front foot and Haaland put the other Cityzens ahead. The Norwegian forward proved just how scary his finishing can be by scoring a brace in the opening 45 minutes. Nico O’Reilly served up the best cross. This volleyed pass set up Haaland, and he finished his second goal very well indeed to give City a commanding lead.
After halftime, the momentum shifted dramatically. City finished with 18 total shots on the day but failed to capitalize on any of the opportunities to put the game out of reach. Tijjani Reijnders rattled the woodwork early in the second half. Just seconds afterwards, Phil Foden saw his kick crash the bar. Those missed opportunities would cost dearly as Monaco took advantage of City’s failure to close the game out.
“I don’t think we played good enough. We don’t deserve to win. We need more energy. We needed to do more of what we did in the first half.” – Erling Haaland
In the final minutes of the game, the referee awarded a highly disputed penalty kick against Manchester City. This fateful decision made their path to three points all the more difficult. This decision was the icing on the cake of frustrations experienced by all the players and coaching staff as well.
Manager’s Perspective
After the game, Pep Guardiola had a few things to say about this one. He acknowledged that City had dominated the ball and created plenty of chances. They lacked the energy and efficiency required to win the close race.
“I haven’t seen the stats or the chances, but I think we were much more energetic than them; sometimes that isn’t possible. Many things were against us in situations.” – Pep Guardiola
Guardiola was similarly effusive over Haaland’s performance, putting a focus on not letting the game get away from the team across the entire 90 minutes.
“Haaland played really good. He plays to score goals, to have chances. The team was really, really good.” – Pep Guardiola
Continued Struggles
The tie with Monaco continues a troubling trend for Manchester City that has plagued the side for the past several months. The team suffered a 4-1 defeat against Sporting CP on November 5, 2024, followed by a 2-0 loss to Juventus on December 11 and a 4-2 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain on January 22. Their recent run of woes continued when they fell 3-1 to Real Madrid on February 19.
City’s failure to get a win on the road has doubt emerged by the boatload from supporters and pundits. The team will have to regroup fast as they’ll be looking ahead to their next fixtures. With an eye toward the future, Guardiola declared an urgent need to become better, interestingly enough.
“It’s step by step; we have to do that. Ninety minutes is too much.” – Pep Guardiola
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