Five Things Learned: Sunderland 0-0 Manchester City (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City were held to a goalless draw away to Sunderland on New Year’s Day at the Stadium of Light, leaving them four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta’s side cruised to a 4-1 win over an in form Aston Villa outfit on Tuesday night, with the Midlands club having won their previous 11 matches in all competitions before the loss in North London.  

Manchester City were limited to few shots at goal in the first-half, managing just one attempt in the opening half an hour, but did have the ball in the net early on as Bernardo Silva turned Erling Haaland’s near-post flick past Robin Roefs – only to be adjudged offside.

Sunderland had chances of their own as Brian Brobbey out-muscled Ruben Dias during Nordi Mukiele’s over-the-top long ball sent the Dutchman through on goal, but his strike was straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Trai Hume then saw a header fly just over the crossbar with a few minutes to go until half time, as City’s best chance of the opening period came from Haaland, who struck a low, first-time shot towards Roefs – who did enough to keep the effort out.   

Pep Guardiola made a change to the holding midfield position at half-time, as Rodri replaced Nico Gonzalez who appeared to pick up an injury in the first half. 

Savinho had two chances early in the second half to take the lead, as the Brazilian was first played through by Rayan Cherki, however blazed a shot well over the bar. His second came after Phil Foden played the 21-year-old into space, but his shot was straight at Roefs. 

Savinho then pulled up with an injury as a result of his second chance and was replaced in the 51st minute, with Jeremy Doku sent on for his first appearance back from injury. The game was starting to spring into life as Sunderland forced Donnarumma into two saves in quick succession; the first coming from Simon Adingra’s shot, and the second coming from Mayenda’s low strike.

The Blues started to pile pressure onto the Sunderland defence, as substitute Josko Gvardiol’s header was saved from close range, before Doku danced around the Black Cats’ defence inside the penalty area, but his shot was blocked.  

In fact, it was the Croatian defender who was almost in with a shout for goal of the season, as he acrobatically flicked the ball towards goal from Rayan Cherki’s cross, but the ball hit the post with a quarter of an hour to go. 

Manchester City pushed and had chances towards the end of the game but in the end, the match ended in a stalemate in what was a fascinating watch. Here are Five Things We Learned from Manchester City’s 0-0 draw in the North-East!

Josko Gvardiol: More than a defender

Josko Gvardiol came on in the 57th minute and had four shots on goal, as well as seven touches inside the Sunderland penalty area. The 23-year-old has exceptional attacking qualities, especially considering his natural position, and his defensive qualities are still of the highest standard.

It feels like Manchester City are blessed to have the Croatian and he is only going to get better with plenty more years ahead, having already recorded 20 goal contributions since joining the club. While he played left-back a lot last season, since partnering up with Ruben Dias centrally, he has looked immense.  

It looks like he may return to the left back role against Chelsea on Sunday, with Nico O’Reilly potentially picking up an issue against Sunderland and Rayan Ait Nouri away on African Cup of Nations duties.

Rayan Cherki is the key

Every time the Frenchman plays football, it is a joy to watch. Despite the result at the Stadium of Light, Rayan Cherki looked like the answer to an opener at times with his creativity playing a huge part.

He has that quality to unlock a defence with one pass and although it seems very early in his Etihad Stadium career, he is managing to fill Kevin De Bruyne’s void well having been signed for around £30 million from Lyon in the summer.

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder now has 11 goal contributions already this season, and is leading the way at the top of the assists chart in the Premier League alongside Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes.

A truly generational talent with bags full of potential, and already plenty of quality, Rayan Cherki boasts exquisite dribbling ability and is arguably one of the most skilfull players in the world – exemplified by his rabona assist in the reverse fixture between Manchester City and Sunderland.

Injury worries

As the quick-fire winter period only continues to intensify throughout January, injuries are starting to become more apparent for Manchester City.

Nathan Ake pulled up with a knee issue in the opening three minutes against Sunderland but was able to carry on, while Nico Gonzalez, Savinho, and possibly even Nico O’Reilly were forced to be substituted with their own injury concerns.

In a way it does feel like it has been coming with Pep Guardiola playing unchanged sides, although with good reason as such line-up have looked Manchester City’s best. Despite the fact injuries are just a part of football, it does also highlight a lack of depth currently.

The imminent arrival of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth should add more quality to wide areas where City have at times struggled for quality. Jeremy Doku has looked miles better this season, but Savinho has looked poor more often than not and is yet to score a Premier League goal this term.

The Blues at times have had just three central midfield options, with all three of them having to start as Manchester City play a system with three figures in the centre of the pitch. Mateo Kovacic and Rodri have been sidelined for the majority of the campaign and it has left Pep Guardiola with some stress regarding that position’s rotation.

The race is on!

There’s a long way to go, but Manchester City’s title hopes took a blow with Arsenal defeating Aston Villa 4-1 and Pep Guardiola’s side having to settle for a 0-0 draw at the Stadium of Light.

City are now four points behind the Gunners but have been in this position before plenty of times and know exactly what is needed to be champions. One interesting thing to point out is the fact that Arsenal, when top at Christmas – which they were this season – have never gone on to win the Premier League title.

This is the fifth occurrence of such status, and it will be interesting to see if history repeats itself. It feels like the title race will go right down to the wire as Manchester City look to try and take back their crown that they have dominated in the past decade.  

The eight-time Premier League champions had won their last eight games in all competitions before the draw away to Sunderland – a place where no one has come away with three points all season.  

Gianluigi Donnarumma: The best in the world?

An immense shot stopper who ever since he joined the club has looked like he feels right at home. The Italian’s passion shines through and he could be the difference in Manchester City’s season this year.

He made four crucial stops on Thursday night and is right up there with the very best in his position. The 26-year-old has been playing professional football for the last decade, but it was last season with Paris-Saint Germain where he really showed the world what he can do through clutch moments in PSG winning their first UEFA Champions League title.

£26 million was all it took to pry him away from the French capital, and while the big question when the Italian arrived on the blue side of Manchester was all about his distribution with his feet. However, while City have been used to having Ederson’s top drawer abilities vital in dominating the Premier League, Donnarumma has looked very good himself – matched by a remarkable ability at traditional shot-stopping.