Manchester City showed tremendous character to come back from a goal down to win 2-1 against a competitive Chelsea side.
However, the first 20 minutes, in particular, were far from convincing from the home side and asked to assess the performance after the game on Twitter, fans were slightly concerned:
Not good enough, performance was poor. There was no drive no desire and no aggression with the ball. We lacked the crisp passing that we are used to. It seemed that even though the players KNEW that Liverpool won they seemed VERY laid back. Loading balls, passes. Not good enough
— Sunny (@SunnySunny0028) November 24, 2019
We have lost our touch of class we possessed from the 2017/2018 season.
— Emmanuel Abuchi (@Emilax97) November 24, 2019
Scraped through, didn’t look ourselves. Defence all at sea, a few poor performances in midfield, mainly Rodri in my eyes was abysmal. And I’ve seen better finishing in a Sunday league football game at my local field. Despite all that a vital win
— FRANK (@FXCKEDUP5OCIETY) November 24, 2019
Even though it was end to end stuff City grind out the result.
— JahMikes ????????????? (@MichaelJacktoo) November 24, 2019
It could be much better
— Mohammed Abbas ?? (@Mohamme78506252) November 24, 2019
City where not at their best.
— Nwanneka Omeche (@nwanneka_omeche) November 24, 2019
We really need a CB
— Fredrick Ijeh (@fredrick_ijeh) November 24, 2019
All about the result.
— I'm not really here (@HereReallyNotIm) November 24, 2019
Performance wasn't that great but we got the result, I think it was easy to play against through us in midfield
— Ceepe (@Siphe_Sihle1) November 24, 2019
Shaky during large portions of the game..
— Urch (@uchearua) November 24, 2019
Raheem Sterling did have a goal ruled out for offside by VAR, and that would have put some extra gloss on the result, but it was a challenging match for the Citizens.
They required a deflection to get back on level terms and some individual magic from Riyad Mahrez to take the lead, but they were on top for large spells in the second half, and Guardiola would have been happy with some elements of the performance.
Considering the threat posed by Chelsea’s attack, the makeshift City defence stood up well to the challenge and it does show some promise heading into the games against Shakhtar, Newcastle and Burnley.