Marc Guehi insists there is plenty for Manchester City to build on despite their 4-2 UEFA Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, pointing to a much-improved second-half display and the backing of the Etihad Stadium faithful.
Marc Guehi and Manchester City endured a difficult night against Paris Saint-Germain.More Videos
An electric PSG side surged three goals clear by the half-time interval through Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele, and Vitinha, before Erling Haaland struck twice either side of a fourth from Maghnes Akliouche to lend the final scoreline a far more positive look than the opening 45 minutes had threatened.
Three goals down at the break, Manchester City were a different team after it owing to Enzo Maresca's triple substitution, and Marc Guehi was clear about both the lessons and the positives that could be found.
A tale of two halves
Speaking to official Manchester City media after the contest at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, Guehi - who is part of Manchester City's leadership group - conceded that the opening 45 minutes left the club with a mountain to climb.
“First-half we need to do a lot better, myself included, for the first two goals,” the England international said. “I think they were a bit more aggressive and won a lot of one on one duels in the first-half which allowed them the platform to score them goals.”
The second 45 minutes, he said, told a different story. "[The] second-half I think was the complete opposite, we were a lot more aggressive. We won a lot more of the duels which gave us the platform to go and score those goals," the centre-half added.
Positives and a crowd that stayed with them
While the first half was one to forget, Guehi was determined to take heart from what followed - and the support from the stands in what was Manchester City’s first home game since an independent panel deemed the club guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules during 2009-18 in the recent international break.
“Not the best first-half but a lot of positives to take from the second-half,” Guehi said. “It says a lot about not just the players but the football club in general, the fans stuck by us the whole game. The support was amazing.
“I think every single person knew that as long as we kept fighting, there was something there for us. I think it’s only the beginning of the competition.”
The numbers behind the fightback
The statistics tell a story that backs up Guehi’s verdict as Manchester City mustered 21 shots in the second-half alone, with Enzo Fernandez and Erling Haaland both striking the frame of the goal.
Enzo Maresca’s men laid near-constant siege to the Paris Saint-Germain goal without quite finding enough finishes to complete the comeback.
Erling Haaland’s first goal, meanwhile, took him past Sergio Agüero as Manchester City’s all-time leading UEFA Champions League scorer, and made him the quickest player in the history of the competition to 60 career goals.
For all the damage done before half-time, there was real quality and character in the comeback, and in the Champions League’s league-phase format there is ample time to recover before the knockout stages.
Guehi, like his manager, will hope for a response in the next two matches - including a return to European action at home to AEK Athens next week. “Hopefully we can learn from this and put better performances in future games,” he added.
The chance for redemption is just around the corner, with Ipswich Town visiting the Etihad Stadium this weekend. Victory there would send Manchester City six points clear at the top of the Premier League table and pile pressure on Arsenal, who visit Nottingham Forest the following day.
A disastrous first-half against the reigning European champions should not detract from what has, all in all, been a very positive start for City’s new manager and his much-changed squad.