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Man City and Arsenal both won in the Champions League, but the wins were far too close for comfort for both. City got the job done, but it was not convincing.
City Win at Leipzig, but the Defensive Concerns Remain
City’s win was not convincing because they made it a real end-to-end game. Leipzig just kept coming after it, so they made it. You go, we go. Yes, it was exciting, but with Enzo Maresca not getting results of late and question marks over the defensive displays, they are going to have to make it a lot tighter going forward.
Game management towards the end needs to improve: Doku and Rayan Cherki, with a minute to go, have got to go tight, go at the corner, and get their foot on it. We have seen Pep Guardiola change that outcome for many years and really instill it in his team to make sure he gets results towards the end of it. We also have to understand that RB Leipzig has not been beaten at home since January.
A wonderful record. They do not concede goals. To go and score three is a really good performance. Obviously, we have seen some change around.
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It will certainly suit the game at the weekend against Forest with the amount of energy they have had to put into that late on. But overall, if you are going to Leipzig and getting a result in the Champions League like they have done, you would certainly take it.
But they are going to have to find a way of being much harder to beat, with fewer chances and opportunities against them, and really that territory in their own box is far too open. That is the frustrating point, and that is really the difference. But it is still overall a really strong start for Enzo Maresca and City since the start of the season.
City are conceding every game at the moment, but in the Brighton game, obviously, they lost, and they quite easily could have won it. They had miles more opportunities. If Enzo Maresca says, “I want to entertain. This is my way.” Cities are certainly delivering that whenever you cover them at this moment in time.
So yes, it is open, but they have got to find a way. Arsenal are harder to beat and have much more resolve, with question marks over being a little bit boring and a little bit cautious. There has to be a little bit of a balance while City takes it in stride and understands what they need from the manager. Just watching those games, it has been entertaining, with lots of chances.
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A little bit of frustration there. You are seeing Rúben Dias and Erling Haaland going off the pitch towards the end, saying, “We need to be tougher.” We need to make sure that we can kill the games off.” But winning away is not a bad thing, so they will take it.
Donnarumma is, make no bones about it, one of the most successful goalkeepers in European football, but his form could become a problem, and questions could start being asked about his place in this City team.
That option is gone with James Trafford leaving the football club, so it settles that down slightly. But the save into the top corner was sensational. Other people cannot get to that. For all his making a couple of mistakes, he will be highlighted, but you also have to say that before, they might have had Rodri, a holding midfield player who would sit there and really understand how to limit those chances.
The manager is making it open, so Donnarumma is going to get so many more shots at him, wider situations, and different areas of the pitch where he is going to be left open and vulnerable. So we have got to be cautious with it.
Wonderful goalkeeper. He has made a couple of mistakes, as have others, Nunes and Marc Guéhi, because of the situation they are in. So it is about control. The end of the game summed up pretty much where City has been for a longer period of the season so far.
If James Trafford were still there, Donnarumma would be coming under real pressure now for his place. That is a given. We have seen it with Scott Parker going into a Championship side and with Michael Carrick at Manchester United: when you have different options and you cannot find a formula, you start looking and changing and chopping, and that is the nature of the beast.
This is what you expect at the highest level, to be put under pressure. It was maybe a good thing when James Trafford was there for Donnarumma to say, “I have to be on my game.” Focus has got to be there, and there is nothing more of a challenge than that. He has had a few little uncertain moments. There have still been some good saves and some strong moments in it. But overall, City is a decent place.
The weekend will tell it all as well. They really need a win at Forest going into the international break, and that will just quieten down the situation over the course of today and the weekend after a couple of poor results.
They go to Nottingham Forest on the weekend. Their next two Champions League games are Napoli at the Etihad, then Barcelona on matchday six. But it was a victory for Manchester City this evening, despite two goals conceded, with Haaland scoring his obligatory goal against Leipzig to win the game. City won tonight in Germany.
Arsenal Cling On in Prague
Arsenal won in Prague. It was much harder than it needed to be at the end for them, and they do not have the excuse of Leipzig being very good at home because this is a Slavia Prague side who have not won a Champions League game since 2007.
It was a real game of two halves. In the first half, Arsenal were absolutely superb. They suppressed the game straight away. Slavia Prague came out in the opening minutes. The atmosphere really got to them, and they took that to the Arsenal team. But a mistake from Slavia Prague really got the first goal for Arsenal.
Madueke took his goal really well from the right-hand side, and that settled the nerves. After that, they were in total control. Declan Rice was dominating the game, setting the pace of the game, and then Gyökeres also played brilliantly in the first half in terms of that sounding board up top, bringing players in, dropping deep, and he took his goal well. When they got to 2-0, you were thinking, “This is easy. This could be three, four, or five.”
In the second half, fair play and credit to Slavia Prague because they changed their formation. They went from a back four to a back three. They put more bodies up, more bodies in the midfield to try and get that bit of control back, which they got. That then frustrated Arsenal. They got ragged, lost their composure, and started getting bookings.
Konsa got booked; he had to be taken off. Declan Rice got booked; he stayed on and kept his temperament. They had to bring Ødegaard on as well to try and get a bit of control back in the game. You just felt as the game went on; we are so used to Arsenal being so tight and disciplined, they looked just really spaced out. There were chances for Slavia Prague. Admittedly, they were only half chances, but they were still knocking on the door, knocking on the door.
The major one came with a cross from the right-hand side, and it was a glancing header. David Raya made an outstanding save, one of the best saves seen in recent times. Full stretch, tipped it onto the post. Big save that, because after that, Slavia gained momentum. When Slavia Prague did get one back, it was a great cross, and Arsenal should probably have dealt better with it, but it was a great cross and a good finish.
It was game on. In the remaining minutes, Arsenal were clinging on. They really were. A game that should have been dead, buried, out, or hung out to dry, it then became about holding on for an away win. Ultimately, they won away from home, a good three points.
Slavia Prague actually had more shots, more shots on target by the end of the game, but Arsenal had the win. The decisive second goal was scored by Viktor Gyökeres, who has had a disappointing start to the season, it is fair to say.
He gave his manager something to think about with that performance tonight. He was outstanding. He knew his role. This is what he is. He is strong; he has good movement behind. He is an ever-present player. He is a willing runner to do that and do the hard yards. But sometimes when he just pins a defender and uses his strength, he just plays the ball off, links wide players that come in, inverted wingers, or players that run in behind that he can just set, and they go over the top.
He had done his job tonight, and he took his goal really well. He was desperate for a goal. He has been desperate for a goal for a couple of weeks now. He took it with real aplomb, like he has been in confidence all season. It was a performance where it was not vintage, especially in the second half, where it petered out a little bit, but certainly a first-half performance where he can stake a claim and go, “Look, I can finish; I can do a job for the team.”
Declan Rice was also outstanding throughout the game. There is not a better central midfielder in European football right now, honestly. No disrespect to the opposition tonight; you play against who you are up against, but honestly, it was man versus kid stuff at the end of the day. He just dominated the play.
He got on the ball more. He was all over the place today, whether as a six or an eight. More importantly, his recovery runs. When you are playing in that position and your full-backs are high and wide and they are bombing on, and then even sometimes your center-half steps out, he is the one that, if there is a danger, if there is a counterattack, he reads the game so well. He swept up every little bit of danger in the first half. He was outstanding.
Elsewhere, Como won 9-1 at Lens. Como are the first team to score nine away in the Champions League or European Cup, as it was, for 55 years. This is their first season in European football
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