Izuchukwu OkosiManchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, was left frustrated by the supporters’ apparent lack of faith in his team following the booing from the crowd Thursday night as they battled back to win 4-2 against Tottenham Hotspur.
With the City side losing 2-0 at the break, a cacophony of boos rang out at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.
However, the current league champions rallied back to win and boost their chances of catching up with Arsenal who they face twice in the league this season.
Man City went into Thursday’s game against Spurs needing a win after their 2-1 Manchester derby defeat to United over the weekend at Old Trafford. They got off to a terrible start though as they found themselves 2-0 down at half-time.
Guardiola’s side made a slow start to the game and they were punished by Tottenham, who took control via goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal.
The Premier League holders were booed off by their home supporters at the break but they came to life following the restart.
Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland netted soon after the restart before a brace from Riyad Mahrez took the game away from Tottenham at the Etihad. The victory reduces the gap between City and Arsenal to five points.
They face Wolves next before Arsenal come up against Man Utd later in the day on Sunday.
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Guardiola was far from happy from what he saw from his team and fans on Thursday evening.
“I cannot deny how happy we are. But we were far away from the team that we were,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“We concede four fouls and we don’t react. There was nothing from the stomach and the guts, the passion, fire, desire to win from minute one.”
On City’s fans, Guardiola said: “They booed because we were losing but not because we played badly.
“Maybe it’s the same as our team, maybe we are comfortable after four Premier Leagues in five years.
“How do I get the fire back? It’s my duty, my job. I want my fans back. I don’t recognise my team. I’m not going to tell you what I said.”
Jack Grealish’s in the post match reactions with teammate and Man of the Match, Riyad Mahrez, added that “it was silent for a while” in the dressing room at half-time.
“I thought we actually did all right in the first half, we had the better chances but like last week we conceded a goal,” Grealish told Sky Sports.
“Obviously it was not the best dressing room at half-time, it was silent for a while.
“I wasn’t thinking about the table, Just the game. Since I’ve been here I’ve lost both games against Spurs. Riyad was on fire and he helped us.”
Mahrez added: “I thought we played good in the first half so when we came back we were frustrated.
“I thought we actually did all right in the first half, we had the better chances but like last week we conceded a goal,” Grealish told Sky Sports.
“Obviously it was not the best dressing room at half-time, it was silent for a while.
“I wasn’t thinking about the table, Just the game. Since I’ve been here I’ve lost both games against Spurs. Riyad was on fire and he helped us.”
Mahrez added: “I thought we played good in the first half so when we came back we were frustrated.The manager spoke to us and we knew we could come back. We showed what we are.
“We scored two goals early and it put us in a great position. I think we deserved to win. It was a good night.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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