Football: Pep Guardiola admits 10-man City are 'so tired' after Copenhagen draw
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez shoots from the penalty spot but fails to score.
PHOTO: AFP
COPENHAGEN - Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City are “so tired” after his 10 men qualified for the Champions League last 16 with a 0-0 draw against FC Copenhagen on Tuesday.
His side had Rodri’s goal controversially disallowed by VAR before Sergio Gomez was dismissed for a professional foul at the Parken Stadium.
City forward Riyad Mahrez also missed a penalty prior to Gomez’s premature first-half exit, which left City playing with 10 men for an hour.
With Erling Haaland rested on the bench ahead of City’s trip to Liverpool on Sunday, the Premier League champions failed to score for the first time in 24 games in all competitions.
But Guardiola’s men got their reward just hours later when they advanced to the knockout stages with two games to spare thanks to Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw with against Sevilla in the other Group G fixture.
“To play one hour like that is tough. The players gave absolutely everything,” Guardiola said.
“It’s a good point and we will take it. I’m so satisfied. Tomorrow we will regenerate and then we have two days to prepare for Liverpool.”
His side had Rodri’s goal controversially disallowed by VAR before Sergio Gomez was dismissed for a professional foul at the Parken Stadium.
City forward Riyad Mahrez also missed a penalty prior to Gomez’s premature first-half exit, which left City playing with 10 men for an hour.
With Erling Haaland rested on the bench ahead of City’s trip to Liverpool on Sunday, the Premier League champions failed to score for the first time in 24 games in all competitions.
But Guardiola’s men got their reward just hours later when they advanced to the knockout stages with two games to spare thanks to Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw with against Sevilla in the other Group G fixture.
“To play one hour like that is tough. The players gave absolutely everything,” Guardiola said.
“It’s a good point and we will take it. I’m so satisfied. Tomorrow we will regenerate and then we have two days to prepare for Liverpool.”
It was notable that City lacked a cutting edge without Haaland, who has scored an incredible 20 goals in 12 competitive games since signing from Dortmund in the close season.
Haaland scored twice in just 45 minutes during last week's 5-0 drubbing of Copenhagen, but Guardiola might have expected his team to dominate the Danish minnows even without him. But Copenhagen had only lost one of their previous 13 Champions League home group games and, aided by the VAR mayhem, they proved tougher opponents at the Parken Stadium than they had in Manchester.
Mahrez misery
Julian Alvarez was picked to deputise for Haaland and the young Argentine wriggled into the Copenhagen area for a low strike that flashed just wide in the opening minutes. Rodri thought he had given City the lead with a 25-metre rocket in the 11th minute.
But after a lengthy VAR check, the midfielder's goal was harshly disallowed for handball by Mahrez in the build-up, even though the Algerian had no control over the ball's accidental contact with his arm.
Ederson had to tip over Lukas Lerager's drive from just outside the area after City's defence were caught out of position moments later.
After being denied by VAR, City should have benefitted from the system in the 24th minute, winning a penalty after a replay check of Nicolai Boilesen's handball when he blocked Manuel Akanji's header. However, not for the first time in a City shirt, Mahrez was unable to convert the spot-kick as Kamil Grabara dived to his right to make a fine save.
Remarkably, VAR would intervene yet again after half an hour when City left-back Gomez was caught the wrong side of Hakon Haraldsson and hauled down the Copenhagen midfielder.
After play had continued for several seconds without a foul being given, referee Artur Dias went to the pitchside monitor and returned to show Gomez the red card. City were the first team to miss a penalty and have a player sent off in the first half of a Champions League game since Arsenal against Bayern Munich in 2014.
Trying to overcome City's numerical disadvantage, Kevin De Bruyne's curler from the edge of the area forced a good save from Grabara early in the second half. But City found it hard to establish their usual stranglehold on possession and had to settle for a point after Joao Cancelo's late drive was saved by Grabara. AFP