It had been a subdued night in Monaco, with Manchester City sleepwalking to victory until Nico González kicked Eric Dier in the face in a failed attempt to defend a free-kick. Chaos ensued with a melee as City lost their cool and the chance of a perfect Champions League start, before Dier calmly slotted home a last-minute penalty.
City have only themselves to blame for not finishing off a stubborn Monaco off earlier. Erling Haaland proved there was such a thing as a sure bet as he increased his club tally to 11 goals in eight games, only to have his work undone by two incidents of poor defending. Jordan Teze was allowed too much space on the edge of the box to curl the first equaliser into the top corner and the foul for the penalty was at best naive. For González to raise his leg so high when defending a set piece was ill-judged, even if he made contact with the ball, with opponents buzzing around seeking an equaliser. Dier’s nose took the force of the Spaniard’s shinpad but it was worth the pain as Monaco got a point.
Continue reading…It had been a subdued night in Monaco, with Manchester City sleepwalking to victory until Nico González kicked Eric Dier in the face in a failed attempt to defend a free-kick. Chaos ensued with a melee as City lost their cool and the chance of a perfect Champions League start, before Dier calmly slotted home a last-minute penalty.City have only themselves to blame for not finishing off a stubborn Monaco off earlier. Erling Haaland proved there was such a thing as a sure bet as he increased his club tally to 11 goals in eight games, only to have his work undone by two incidents of poor defending. Jordan Teze was allowed too much space on the edge of the box to curl the first equaliser into the top corner and the foul for the penalty was at best naive. For González to raise his leg so high when defending a set piece was ill-judged, even if he made contact with the ball, with opponents buzzing around seeking an equaliser. Dier’s nose took the force of the Spaniard’s shinpad but it was worth the pain as Monaco got a point. Continue reading…
