Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has slammed his teammates for a first-half performance that almost ended their unbeaten run in the UEFA Champions League.
The current Champions League title holders have breezed through their group in this season’s tournament edition. Their home record coming up against a promising Red Bull Leipzig side stood at 28 games unbeaten. After thrashing the German team at their home, many expected a walk in the park at Etihad on Tuesday but the Cityzens faced a scare.
Leipzig, led by the incredible Lois Openda, struck twice in the opening 35 minutes to further quieten an Etihad crowd that rarely got animated during the game. It took a gritty performance, which definitely came after one of Pep Guardiola’s famous locker room talks, for the current champions to stage a comeback from a potential defeat and increase their unbeaten run in the competition.
They are now 29 games unbeaten and are still on course to finish their group without losing a single game.
However, Phil Foden, who sparked the comeback in the second half with an assist for Erling Haaland before scoring the equaliser and assisting Julian ALvarez’s winner, did not appreciate how his team played in the first half and blasted them in his post-match comments to journalists.
The England midfielder told journalists: “First half was the worst I’ve seen us. Courage and motivation courage changed it around. This team has great mentality and it’s so nice to see.”
“We just needed that goal to get going. Even the fans were a lot louder after the goal. Once the first went in the motivation was there. We’ve got a great record at the Etihad and it only takes one goal to change things.”
Guardiola echoed his star’s sentiments in his own post-match comments. “If we talk about the qualification, it is a great night. If we talk about the game, we could do better,” the Manchester City coach said.
“Sloppy goals – in football you have to win duels and it was quite similar against Chelsea. We were solid and now we’ve had two warnings already. It’s the same up front. We’ve had chances and missed them.”
“But maybe for the future it’s good to win not comfortably, to show we are able to make a comeback.”
“When we scored early in the second half, 45 minutes was a long time for them. It was not easy because they defended really well and they were strong, but we are there. Now we have five days to recover for the game against Spurs.”
