A draw away at Sunderland isn’t the end of the world for Manchester City | OneFootball

Manchester City played out a nil-all draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light last night. Pep Guardiola’s side fell four points behind Arsenal who sit top of the Premier League at the halfway point of the season. On face value, dropping points is never ideal. But there was plenty to take from last night’s match for Pep Guardiola’s side. City’s second-half performance, other than their finishing, gives plenty to be optimistic about for what lies ahead across the second-half of the 25/26 season.

Pep Guardiola was pleased with how Manchester City played against Sunderland despite the result.

Speaking after Manchester City’s nil-all draw with Sunderland, Pep Guardiola was pleased with his team’s performance. Especially in the second-half. But Guardiola did rue his team’s poor finishing that cost them come the end of yesterday’s match. He explained: “We created a lot. I don’t know if a team was able to come here and create what we created.”

“They had an offside and Erling had one or two. They had some transitions because our shape was not correct, the second half Rodri helped us and when you are five, six, seven times in the six-yard box and cannot do it, that was the only thing missing.”

“But we played miles better than Nottingham Forest and today we could not win.”

Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva acknowledged that City weren’t at their best in the first-half. But he also said his team improved in the second-half. Bernardo Silva added that it wasn’t his team’s day at the Stadium of Light. He explained: “Two different halves. I would say in the first half we didn’t play that well, we didn’t control the counters as well as we should. We attacked a bit too quick, we didn’t move them to then find the spaces.”

“Then second-half we had a lot of chances. Today was one of those days we could not finish the chances. It’s fine, it’s a point. Obviously, we’re not happy because we wanted better than this. It’s still a long season.”

A draw at the Stadium of Light isn’t the worst result in the world and if City play as they did in the second-half consistently anything remains positive.

If last night’s nil-all stalemate that Manchester City played out with Sunderland is viewed only through the prism of the result it is disappointing. But there was plenty to be optimistic about for what lies ahead for Pep Guardiola’s side during the second-half of last night’s match.

Manchester City created a host of chances throughout the second-half of last night’s match. An inspired performance from Robin Roefs in the Sunderland goal and some desperate defending from Régis Le Bris’s side kept City out. Combine that with some poor finishing and Pep Guardiola’s side were forced to settle for a point. But Manchester City’s overall performance in the second-half was much better than what they served up against Nottingham Forest in their 2-1 win at The City Ground. The difference being that City picked up three points against Sean Dyche’s side and didn’t against Sunderland. If City play as they did during the second-half of last night’s match regularly they’ll be a formidable proposition across the second-half of the season.

Final thoughts.

With the return of Rodri, and the optimism provided by Manchester City’s second-half performance, last night’s nil-all draw isn’t the end of the world so to speak. They picked up a point against a team that remains unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season in a tough and competitive match. While the result looks disappointing on face value, there was plenty to take out of the game for Manchester City and a lot of it will serve City well over the next stage of this season.