Manchester City suffered another humiliating defeat, one that will leave its mark on Pep Guardiola’s career. Despite his unblemished coaching record, this season is proving to be a serious trial for him. In the match against Arsenal, the “Citizens” conceded 5 goals, an almost unbelievable occurrence in his career.
To be more precise, this is only the second time in his 17-year coaching career that a Guardiola team has conceded a “Manita” (five goals). Such a thing had never happened to him at Barcelona or Bayern Munich, and it took him four years at Manchester City before he experienced it.
The first instance was on September 27, 2020, in a match played without a crowd due to the pandemic, when Leicester City crushed the “Citizens” 5-2 at the Etihad Stadium. The “Citizens” had taken the lead through Mahrez early on, but then completely collapsed, and Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick. Although Ake pulled one back, James Maddison again increased the lead, and Youri Tielemans sealed the game.
It took Guardiola 687 games to suffer his first “Manita.” The second came in game number 920. Against Arsenal, this time away from home, City were beaten 5-1 in a game that they seemed to control at times, but which slipped away from them just when they should have secured it. Erling Haaland equalized Odegaard’s opener in the 55th minute, and within just seven minutes, the “Citizens” conceded two more goals.
Thomas’s goal was quite fortunate, as his long-range shot deflected off Stones and went into his own net, but Manchester City remained listless. Lewis-Skelly made a superb move and finish inside the “Citizens’” penalty area to make it 3-1 in the 62nd minute, and a counter-attack saw Kai Havertz add a fourth in the 76th minute. Nwaneri added a fifth goal in the 93rd minute. In all that time since Haaland’s equalizer, Guardiola’s side did not have another shot on goal.