Sam Lee (@SamLee) header
Sam Lee (@SamLee) profile picture

Manchester City correspondent for @TheAthleticFC. Also @LMTpod

Manchester, England
Joined April 2009
I wasn’t at Forest today as I’m looking after my kids, but in Leipzig the other night I asked Maresca about the exact situation that led to the third goal (and similar to the second)- Fernandez being high/wide and Anderson moving out to get on the ball. If the ball/duel is lost, there’s big space for opponents to break into. Maresca said individual mistakes were leading to goals, not that specific scenario. I asked if it led to the games being open/end-to-end and he said he would assess things in the international break. That stuff definitely needs addressing as the midfield is often far too open. Mistakes still a big factor too of course. Terrible combination at the moment
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Ffs
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Haaland back to win the header from Leipzig's last-second free-kick into the box. Full-time, blimey
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City have had three attempts to kill the game in injury time, or at least to take the ball towards the corner and slow things down, and yet Leipzig have been able to turn around and break each time
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Bouaddi is coming on. So are Kovacic and Allan
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That is very De Bruyne-like from Anderson, from taking the bull tidily at full pelt to sliding it along the box to exactly where Haaland was waiting
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3-2 Haaland what a run and ball by Anderson
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Foden's going off for Doku. Doku goes to the left wing, Ndiaye switches to the right. Quiet night for Foden on the whole, though he did have a good shot that went just wide
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Doku is about to come on
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2-2 Nusa!
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Wifi is back and so is Enzo Fernandez - 2-1!
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Superb Donnarumma save a moment ago but he's been outfoxed by Baku's shot at the near post there, 1-1
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1-0, poor OG!
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Good move from City to get Cherki in a shooting position arriving in the box but he just drags it wide
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They spent half time telling Isak to go down and exaggerate the foul, now Neville is telling Mac Allister to get up. It’s the same thing in spirit
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Next
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‘Name any famous king’ Gary Neville:
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A couple of City’s wins haven’t been as impressive as they looked this season, the Villa loss wasn’t as bad as it looked. They’re ticking along very well for a team that’s got a new manager and many new players. Obviously need to improve, but who doesn’t? nytimes.com/athletic/7720238…
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Anderson has been brilliant so far but he does fly around everywhere trying to put out fires, and that’s not ideal. Fernandez is a wanderer too and he’s not the most defensively plugged in, and neither is Cherki. They can kill teams with their talent but there can be problems too
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that’s not the main issue when the goalkeeper and centre-back are making basic mistakes but I do think there will be some tinkering required as the season goes on. I think Anderson will probably learn to stick to his position more too (he has been told about that)
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