At the Etihad Stadium, the already qualified to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, Manchester City hosted the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in Matchday 5 of Group Stage. We can say that Pep Guardiola’s side couldn’t perform at their best, as they played way below their capacities to be held in a 1-1 draw with the visitors. Ilkay Gundogan scored for the Cityzens, as Solomon leveled for the Ukrainian side.

Believe it or not, but the best chance of opening the scoring in the first half came for Shakhtar Donetsk. 15 minutes into the match, Tete had a good chance to score as Ederson failed to clear an easy ball, and the ball fell to Tete, who had the empty goal all for himself but failed to control the ball quickly. Better for Brazilian Fernandinho, who had time to save City and deny the striker.

In the second half, Manchester City needed just one chance to score and open the scoring consequently. On 57 minutes into the game, Gabriel Jesus played a major role, controlling the ball and creating spaces for infiltrations. The Brazilian rolled it to Gundogan, who had a lot of space to control the ball and score. 1-0 Manchester City.

Even being 1-0 up, Man City kept playing a below-average football and saw Shakhtar grow into the match until they could level the game. On 69 mins, in a quick counter-attack coming from the right-wing, Dodo crossed it from behind to find the unmarked Manor Solomon, who had all the time he needed to put it past Ederson and equalize the match in the Etihad Stadium. 1-1.

Man City even pushed for a winner, but the game ended up just like that.

The defeat to Liverpool seemed to have done some damage to Guardiola’s men’s confidence and aggressive attitude while on the pitch. It was a relatively simple game to win, but the players performed poorly, giving a lot of spaces in the defense and wasting the few opportunities they struggled to create. Pep might find another way to inspire and motivate his talented side in order to keep shining.