Manchester City were well beaten by Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League with errors from youngsters and senior stars costing them
German referee Sven Jablonski shows a red card to Manchester City's Rodri during the UEFA Champions League, league Phasematch between Bodo/Glimt and Manchester City
Rodri is sent off for Manchester City against Bodo/Glimt(Image: )
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Manchester City froze in the Arctic Circle as Bodo/Glimt picked up a famous victory over the 2023 Champions League winners. The Norwegian side were not even a first-division outfit when Pep Guardiola arrived at the Etihad 10 years ago but claimed City's scalp with a deserved 3-1 victory.
City spent Saturday seeing flashes of red in a dismal derby defeat and they were greeted by them in the Bodo sky on Monday night, a rare sighting that historically foreshadowed disaster. Given it is now two wins from seven games in January, City have only enhanced the myth.
The defence certainly looked imaginary during a comical three minutes of play in the first half that saw Kasper Hogh score twice past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Having been hooked at half-time against United, Max Alleyne was at fault for both goals as he was caught stepping out for the first and then lost the ball in a poor position for the second.
Once again though, it would be unfair to single Alleyne out when the whole team was poor. There are absences in the squad, but that did not excuse Rodri, Erling Haaland and the rest of a strong side collapsing so badly and then failing to show their force as their attackers stood still when their teammates had the ball.
As City should have been pushing for a way back into the game in the second half, instead Rodri stood still as Jens Petter Hauge waltzed his way past him and slapped a third goal past Donnarumma, Then, after Rayan Cherki had pulled one back for the Blues so they could attack the final half-hour, Rodri picked up two yellow cards in as many minutes to gift advantage back to the hosts.
Rodri's goal won City the 2023 final in Istanbul and made the team invincible on his way to winning the Ballon d'Or the following year. His return from injury was supposed to be the springboard for Guardiola's side to kick on in the second half of this campaign, yet they and he have gone worryingly backwards and the red card was far from the first sign of the night that he was unable to control the game.
For the second time in four days, City's opponents, scored three, had another two disallowed, hit the woodwork, and enjoyed every second of making the Blues suffer. One bad day at the office can maybe be shrugged off, two not so much.
Of course, it probably won't impact on City's chances of qualifying in the Champions League: beat Galatasaray at home on Wednesday and they should still be able to book a last-16 place by finishing in the top eight. It's just that the level of performance since that high at Newcastle last Tuesday has completely vanished and the problems for Guardiola to try to sort are growing.
Having worked so hard to set their season up for success, City hopes are plummeting more than the Bodo temperatures.
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