Frank Christian
Pep Guardiola was left stunned as Manchester City let a 3-0 lead slip away against Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League.
City seemed set for victory thanks to two goals from Erling Haaland and one from Ilkay Gundogan, leading comfortably at the Etihad Stadium.
However, despite their initial dominance, City has been struggling recently, with a disheartening five-match winless streak and a surprising 4-0 defeat to Tottenham just last weekend. Their second-half performance against Feyenoord raised serious concerns.
Anis Hadj-Moussa scored in the 75th minute due to a mistake by Josko Gvardiol, and Santiago Gimenez, who had just been subbed on, netted the second goal for Feyenoord seven minutes later following another error from Gvardiol.
In the dying moments of the match, David Hancko’s precise header sealed the comeback, igniting wild celebrations among the Feyenoord fans.
Guardiola could be seen with his head in his hands after the first goal for Feyenoord, and his reaction to the subsequent goals reflected his disbelief over City’s sixth straight match without a victory.
This marked a historic moment, as it became the first time in Champions League history that a team conceded a victory after leading 3-0 as late as the 75th minute, according to Opta. Additionally, City has allowed at least two goals in six consecutive matches, a first since 1963, the year they faced relegation from the top flight in England.
75 – Manchester City are the first team in UEFA Champions League history to be leading a match by three goals as late as the 75th minute and fail to go on to win. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/QFkxrMUEbN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 26, 2024
Former City manager Stuart Pearce remarked on Amazon Prime, “That will feel like a defeat. Quite incredible.”
Gael Clichy, an ex-City player, commented, “You win and lose in both boxes. Two of the goals resulted from our own mistakes. The troubling aspect is the persistence of such individual errors, leading to situations like tonight.”
