Why does Manchester City continue to allow late goals? This is a question that Pep Guardiola has been asked several times this season due to the troubling trend of conceding multiple goals in a brief period. The Blues have squandered winning leads against Brighton, Feyenoord, United, and now Brentford due to their inability to maintain performance for the entire 95 minutes of a match. In the manager’s early years, conceding a single goal would often panic the team, leading to another goal being scored before they could regain their composure. This was viewed as a mental barrier instead of a fitness or tactical issue, and it was gradually overcome, allowing City to win the Champions League and four consecutive Premier League titles. Guardiola has hesitated to publicly acknowledge a mental factor in the team’s late-game collapses, despite numerous players mentioning it, and has instead concentrated on the injury crisis. Players like Rodri and Ruben Dias would have brought much-needed defensive skills to secure the game at Brentford on Tuesday. The lack of several key players has left those who are playing feeling more exhausted than they normally would. However, since most players had at least one week without a match and some had two, fatigue wasn’t as significant at Brentford. You could highlight the missing players that left City lacking the expertise required to protect a lead; however, as the manager noted, they could have handled the game differently. “We didn’t handle it well at 2-0, but we did manage better at 2-1,” he said. “However, it can occur at times.” [James] McAtee takes a shot; if he had made an additional pass, they might have ended the game right then, but he needs to shoot to get the third goal. “Savinho had the chance to pass to Erling [Haaland] for a one-on-one situation.
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