Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City side that they must learn from their mistakes. The European champions beat RB Leipzig 3-2 after after trailing 2-nil at half-time. City’s first-half performance was plagued by defensive mistakes which cost them twice as RB Leipzig striker Lois Openda took full advantage. Similar defensive errors were on show in the treble winner’s 4-all draw with Chelsea before the international break.
Speaking post-game Pep Guardiola had a warning for his players. He said: “It is not normal to concede four goals the way we did against Chelsea and today, it is the truth. That didn’t happen last season. We talked about it, it’s football, human beings, it happens, but we have to improve it. The decisions against Liverpool, were brilliant, really good against fast, fast players. Sometimes I have the feeling we’re so anxious, the first yellow card from Ruben isn’t necessary. You have to get better, we were lucky today.”
Mistakes from Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias directly led to both goals for Lois Openda. The young Belgian striker showed his quality to make Manchester City pay full price for their errors. Similar mistakes plagued the European champions in their 4-all draw with Chelsea.
After starting the season so strong defensively Pep Guardiola’s side have now conceded 7 goals in their past 3 games. Individual errors have been the cause of most of the goals conceded by City during the three-game stretch. The individual errors can be rectified as they appear to be the cause of the defensive issues rather than a problem with the way Manchester City set up.
The European champions will now prepare for Sunday’s Premier League match with Tottenham. Pep Guardiola will be hoping his squad can rectify the defensive issues that have recently affected his side.
