Haaland misfires but Foden steps up: Four talking points from City’s win in Leipzig

Erling Haaland couldn’t find the scoresheet for Manchester City but the supporting cast stepped up.

Lewis makes compelling case

When Pep Guardiola chose Manchester City for Arsenal, he must have been tempted by the idea +10 by Rico Lewis. The city manager quickly brought the teenager into the first team because he saw how much his contribution improved the team, and Lewis went from strength to strength.

The tactical awareness and intelligence required to absorb all of Guardiola’s demands and execute them competently is extraordinary for a young man who only turns 19 next month, and one That player who came to the team as a right-back has proven that he can operate as a number 8. Sometimes he passes the ball alongside Rodri, and other times he moves forward; The first goal came from a one-two combination with Bernardo Silva before an accurate cut for Phil Foden.

Rodri will not be available on Sunday, but Lewis has made a much more attractive starting case than Mateo Kovacic or Matheus Nunes this weekend at Wolves. After a lackluster performance in the Champions League, Lewis will not be happy to return to the bench in the match against Arsenal.

Foden takes his chance

This time last year, the same selection would have probably seen Bernardo Silva line up in the middle with Phil Foden on the outside. A striker line that also includes Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish proves to be quite dangerous whenever this trio lines up together.

It was a sign of the times that Foden found himself in the middle, with a rare chance of being number 8 under a more conventional system with Julian Alvarez left on the bench. Guardiola still believes the 23-year-old can improve, so it will be important to trust him to play that role in a game that counts.

Foden still needs to improve his finishing, but the fact he took half of City’s shots in the first half – including the goal that gave them the lead – shows just how influential he was in the first half. match. If Gareth Southgate was watching then he might have seen something of late.

Sloppy defense

It’s now been four games without a clean sheet and they’ve conceded too many easy goals this season.After absolutely dominating the first half but only scoring once in that period, all that work was undone in the first three minutes of the second half when Manu Akanji popped up too easily when Lois Openda shot hit the home team’s goal.

Apart from John Stones, City don’t really lack defenders so there’s no real reason for them to be so sloppy, even though it’s only the beginning of the season. Defense is still the foundation of success.

Close but not quite for Erling Haaland again. The Norwegian already has a number of goals to his name this season, but that number could double if he takes advantage of the opportunities given to him.

Haaland wasteful

Guardiola is certainly not worried about missed opportunities ahead of this match, even if Haaland, who took the Premier League by storm last season, is yet to feature this year. A few more scoring chances came for Leipzig as Haaland’s quiet start to the season continued.

Fortunately for City, Foden, Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku have stepped up. While Haaland shouldered the scoring burden for much of last season, his teammates are now helping him.