Here are the Manchester City morning headlines for Monday, July 6.
Zinchenko caught out
Oleksandr Zinchenko gave the ball away in the lead up to Che Adams’ long-range winner for Southampton against Manchester City on Sunday.
The midfielder was caught in possession, but Adams still had plenty to do before chipping Ederson from way outside the City penalty box for the only goal of the game.
After the match, the City left-back took to social media to apologise to supporters, acknowledging it was a costly mistake which he cannot afford to repeat.
“Do apologise to all team and City fans. This kind of mistake is not acceptable,” Zinchenko said on Instagram. The versatile performer had come into the team in place of Benjamin Mendy, having been an unused sub against Liverpool.
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City’s next step
Pep Guardiola feels he and his team need to take stock after yet another Premier League defeat.
A 1-0 loss at Southampton was City’s ninth of the Premier League this term after only losing four en route to the title last season.
Guardiola said his team were performing well, but admitted he needed to find out why games weren’t being won.
He said: “We concede less than other teams in the Premier League but we lost a lot of games, a lot of games.
“And that’s why it is difficult even for me to find a reason why but we have to insist and talk about the game, the way they play and concede as little as possible and try to score goals.”
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Man in the middle
Veteran Brazilian Fernandinho has been a regular at centre-back for Guardiola this season, deeper than his more natural role at the base of midfield.
His ability to read the game and play out in the style the manager wants has meant the transition has been a success more often than not, although it was also a move out of necessity with other central defenders unavailable at times.
Now, though, our City writer Stuart Brennan feels that Eric Garcia’s emergence means Fernandinho can again be an option in the centre of midfield for Guardiola, challenging Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan for a spot—which should bode well for the upcoming Champions League game against Real Madrid.
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