Manchester Metropolis had been cruising at 3-0. Their dangerous run of kind was seemingly within the rearview mirror.
Then the wheels got here off. Feyenoord roared again with three targets in quarter-hour to earn a scarcely plausible 3-3 away draw within the Champions League on Tuesday.
Josko Gvardiol – who endured an error-strewn efficiency in Saturday’s 4-0 residence loss to Tottenham Hotspur – lofted a woeful backward move that landed nowhere close to its supposed goal Manuel Akanji. Anis Hadj Moussa collected the ball within the 18-yard field and slotted previous Ederson to present Feyenoord a strand of hope.
A meager quantity of hope quickly bloomed into real perception. Gvardiol was once more at fault when he handed to a crowded-out James McAtee, who was robbed of possession, and the transfer culminated with Santiago Gimenez bundling the ball over the road from barely a yard within the 82nd minute.
Feyenoord scored the equalizer when Igor Paixao beat the onrushing Ederson to the ball and lifted a cross for David Hancko to go residence within the 89th minute. Hancko led the celebrations in entrance of the touring Dutch supporters.
75 – Manchester Metropolis are the primary workforce in UEFA Champions League historical past to be main a match by three targets as late because the seventy fifth minute and fail to go on to win. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/QFkxrMUEbN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 26, 2024
Erling Haaland transformed a penalty and scored from shut vary both aspect of Ilkay Gundogan’s deflected strike, giving Metropolis what gave the impression to be a commanding 3-0 lead.
Though the house aspect finally ended its five-game dropping streak – the worst run of Guardiola’s managerial profession – the errors and visual stress that led to the collapse within the 3-3 draw will do nothing to allay fears that Metropolis are in full disaster mode.
“At 3-1 they pushed on and we invited extra stress. We’ve to remain mentally stronger,” defender Nathan Ake instructed Amazon’s broadcast, in accordance with The Guardian’s John Brewin. “I believe we did give it away. It looks like a defeat. It is a powerful evening.”
Manchester Metropolis have conceded two or extra targets in six straight matches throughout all competitions for the primary time since 1963. They had been relegated that season.
Relegation is extraordinarily unlikely (barring a factors deduction referring to Metropolis’s Premier League prices), however issues might get uglier very quickly. Premier League leaders Liverpool, who’re eight factors above Manchester Metropolis, host Guardiola’s males at Anfield on Sunday.
