Manchester City hit with double injury blow during Sunderland draw | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have been struck with further injury blows on a night when they welcomed back two stars from their respective recovery processes.

The goalless draw at the Stadium of Light came at a testing point in City’s season, with Guardiola’s title-chasing squad navigating an increasingly congested fixture list across domestic and European competitions.

Having only recently reintegrated key players back into the squad, the Catalan head coach had hoped to build continuity and rhythm following a demanding winter period. Instead, the contest against Sunderland added fresh uncertainty, with City once again leaving the pitch managing physical concerns.

The manager has repeatedly highlighted the difficulty of balancing recovery and performance, particularly with several senior players operating under careful load management, and as such the timing of the latest setbacks is also far from ideal.

Manchester City face a relentless run of fixtures across the Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, and Champions League, with minimal recovery windows between matches, while squad depth has already been tested heavily in recent weeks.

During the 0-0 draw with Sunderland on Thursday night, Pep Guardiola was forced into two substitutions owing to injury concerns within minutes of one another, as Nico Gonzalez was withdrawn at the half-time interval.

The Spaniard picked up a calf problem during the first-half but managed to continue until the break, only for returning former Ballon d’Or winner Rodri to replace the midfielder in the deep-lying role at the Stadium of Light.

Then, inside the opening five minutes of the second-half and having missed two significant opportunities in front of goal, Jeremy Doku replaced Savinho on the left of Manchester City’s attacking trio.

Nico Gonzalez’s issue will now be monitored closely, particularly given City’s thin options in central midfield, while Savinho’s withdrawal may be more serious given Guardiola’s post-match admission that the injury ‘does not look good’.

Attention now turns quickly to Sunday afternoon’s clash with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium, before a midweek Premier League meeting with Brighton. City then host Exeter in the FA Cup third round, followed by a demanding Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg at Newcastle United.

Beyond that, the schedule intensifies further with the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, a European trip to the Arctic Circle to face Bodo Glimt, home and away league fixtures against Wolves and Tottenham, and a decisive Champions League league-phase finale against Galatasaray.

With that sequence in mind, Manchester City’s medical staff will be under pressure to deliver swift assessments on both Nico and Savinho, and Guardiola may yet be forced into further rotation as a result.