Ilkay Gundogan may have been Manchester City’s standout player of 2021 but it was his mistake in their biggest game of the season so far that cost them the lead.
That was the view of former City defender Joleon Lescott, who felt the midfielder was at fault for Paris Saint-Germain’s opener in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday night.
Gundogan had been standing closest to Marquinhos as Angel Di Maria ran in to deliver a corner from PSG’s right wing. But by the time the ball was flying in to the near post, off the Brazilian’s forehead and into the back of the City net, the midfielder was nowhere to be seen.
While acknowledging City appeared to be using a zonal marking system, Lescott said on BT Sport: “It’s part zonal. Gundogan has to take responsibility. He has to absorb and track the run of Marquinhos a few more steps…
“When you allow players to get runs on you as a defender, it’s the worst possible outcome.”
Former England winger Chris Waddle was similarly unsympathetic on BBC 5 Live.
“I don’t know who is down to mark Marquinhos for Manchester City but it was a decent delivery – we’ve seen it many times, the ball hit with a bit of pace towards the near post,” Waddle said.
“It’s a free header and he has had a free run. Ilkay Gundogan has just him go and attack it. Shocking goal at this level to give away.”
While the tie was expected to be a close encounter it was PSG who looked much the better side in the opening stages before Marquinhos broke the deadlock after 15 minutes.
While acknowledging the excellence of Di Maria’s delivery, former City goalkeeper Joe Hart felt Gundogan should have done more too.
“I think the timing of it is exceptional,” Hart said on Marquinhos’ run. “It’s one of those where it’s a world class delivery and he really does attack the ball and scores an important goal for PSG. So yes, in an ideal set up Gundogan bounces him further away from the goal but he’s eluded that and he’s not broke stride.
“It’s impossible to deal with that from the static position of the zonal markers [on the six yard line]. As soon as he got through that with the pace and the ball, it was only going to end one way.”
Fortunately for Gundogan, Marquinhos’ goal did not prove too costly. Despite going 1-0 down early on, City fought their way back into the tie, with Kevin De Bruyne equalising from a fortunate cross-cum-shot before Riyad Mahrez gave them the lead after finding a hole in the PSG wall at a free-kick.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2R8b7Lo
Post a Comment