Pep Guardiola admitted he felt “a bit guilty” after Manchester City failed to deliver a winning performance for their fans against Southampton .
The champions were held to a frustrating goalless draw in front of a near-capacity and vociferous crowd, as Guardiola had called for, at the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola issued a rallying cry to supporters in midweek, stating his side would be tired after their Champions League game against RB Leipzig and would need their energy.
A goalless Manchester City performance at the Etihad is such a rarity that it inevitably demands analysis, as do the problems Raheem Sterling is experiencing in front of goal for the club.
They stand in stark contrast, of course, to Sterling’s form for his country where he has, arguably, emerged as England’s most important performer in the past 12 months, scoring five goals in 12 appearances for Gareth Southgate’s side and inspiring them to the European Championship final.
Since late February, Sterling has hit the net twice in 22 games for City and Saturday marked only his second start of the season for Pep Guardiola’s side, both of which have ended with City drawing a blank.
It was only the second time in the past 40 league and cup games at the Etihad that the home side had failed to score, and was all the more unexpected given that they had scored 21 goals in their previous four home fixtures.
On Friday, Guardiola had implied that Sterling was yet to hit the dizzyingly high standards he had set for himself in recent years, but was confident that he would do so.
After Southampton’s deserved point, Guardiola reiterated his belief in Sterling while pointing out, correctly, that his lack of productivity owed more to those around him than to the forward himself.
“He was so active in terms of movement, but football depends a lot on how good we do the process in (the) build-up. When it happens, our strikers and wingers play better,” Guardiola said. “Our attacking midfielders play better and today we struggled a bit, but he was always dangerous and ready to try to do it.”
Indeed, Sterling did have the ball in the net in the closing seconds, only for it to be ruled out by the same VAR who had earlier come to City’s rescue in overturning what looked a clear Southampton penalty for a Kyle Walker tackle on Adam Armstrong.
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