Manchester City thrashed Manchester United 6-3 on Sunday afternoon, but Noel Whelan was critical of the two late goals they conceded. City were 6-1 up at the 84th minute before Anthony Martial scored a brace and Whelan believes Pep Guardiola will be worried about his leaky defence.
City raced to a 4-0 lead before Antony whipped a long-range effort to ruin Ederson’s clean sheet, but there was no blame attached to the goal. The same can’t be said about Martial’s double, however.
Ederson parried Fred’s shot into Martial’s path who couldn’t miss from close range. And minutes later, Martial was brought down in the area by Joao Cancelo. He converted the spot kick.
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Whelan says City let themselves down by conceding two cheap goals late on, telling Football Insider: “There are always concerns when you concede three goals. They’ve scored six, so maybe it’s just that complacency creeping in. But you can’t keep doing that week-in, week-out.
“When it went to 6-1, that should have been the end of it. I don’t think Man United deserved three goals, but it came from City’s lack of concentration and taking their foot of the gas.
“You’ve got to keep the levels high, because even if you do that against the lesser sides in the Premier League – you will concede. It’ll be the only thing Pep wants to brush on. It’ll be a concerning thing for him – they’ve got to stop giving cheap goals to teams.”
Five Premier League clubs have conceded fewer goals than City (9) this season while three other sides are matched with the defending champions. In the Champions League, Guardiola’s men have shipped just one goal, so they’ve been defensively sound in Europe.
City have conceded three goals in two of their last six league games, however, so Whelan might have a point about complacency. Guardiola’s men lock horns with Southampton on Saturday afternoon and will hope to shut the Saints out.
In other news, journalist says Pep Guardiola isn’t telling truth about Erling Haaland
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