Ilkay Gundogan blamed a congested calendar in a unique season for Manchester City’s failure to match the standards they have set under Pep ...
Ilkay Gundogan blamed a congested calendar in a unique season for Manchester City’s failure to match the standards they have set under Pep Guardiola after a 1-1 draw with West Brom dealt another blow to their title challenge.
Gundogan appeared to have opened the floodgates on the half hour mark, but Ruben Dias’s own goal two minutes before half-time proved costly as City’s problems in front of goal continued in a goalless second-half.
City have won just five of their opening 12 league games of the season, a far cry from the combined 198 points they registered in two title-winning campaigns under Guardiola in 2017/18 and 2018/19.
Even last season when finishing distant runners-up to Liverpool, City scored 102 league goals, but the stale domination that has characterised a lacklustre campaign was in evidence all night as they struggled to break through West Brom’s deep-lying defence.
“We had great years where we played great football in the past so we set the level high,” said Gundogan. “All over Europe all the big teams are struggling with the tight fixtures and it’s not going to be easier in the next weeks. That’s an explanation why it is not always as easy as the expectations people have for us. We...
