It was a disappointing season for Manchester City. Whilst finishing third in the league would be seen as an exceptional achievement by many others, particularly those from down the road at Old Trafford, the Blues standards are set so high that this season will be viewed as a monumental failure.
Losing to Spurs in the League Cup, a competition that City dominated not so long ago, dumped out of the Champions League after a 6-3 aggregate scoreline after they’d just scraped into the play-offs and an FA Cup Final defeat to Crystal Palace compounded City’s season further.
City’s surprise defeat in the final at Wembley came just hours before the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, What The Hell Just Happened, crashed and burned in Basel, which seemed apt for the events earlier in the day and indeed, the entire season.
There may have been an indication of what was to come as early as the first home game of the season. After beating Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, the Blues hosted new boys Ipswich Town, playing in the Premier League following an absence of 22 years. The Tractor Boys took a shock lead after just seven minutes, but an Erling Haaland treble ensured City made a winning start to their home campaign.
City conceding the first goal would come to be a theme throughout the season. They conceded first goal 23 times in all competitions, 14 times in the Premier League, four times in the FA Cup and Champions League and once in the League Cup. In fact, they conceded the first goal nine times at home in all competitions and 14 times away from the Etihad.
Brentford arrived at the Etihad and, although City won 2-1. The Bees took the lead after just 22 seconds on the clock. A Haaland brace rescued the Blues but it was the second home game in succession where City had conceded first.
The first big tests of City’s Premier and Champions League credentials would come straight after the victory over Brentford. Inter Milan, whom the Blues had beaten 1-0 in the final in Istanbul in 2023, arrived at the Etihad Stadium in the newly vamped Champions League. However, City failed to make an impression, playing out a goalless draw, which was not the most ideal start to their campaign. Arsenal were the next visitors and it needed a last-minute goal by John Stones to rescue a point. Haaland had given City the lead but, moments after Rodri went off injured, the Gunners equalised, then took the lead on the stroke of half-time, before Leandro Trossard saw red. The visitors defended resolutely in the second half and looked to have secured the win, but Stones thought otherwise.
The injury to Rodri would prove pivotal as City chased a fifth successive title, and it would soon become clear that Rodri’s absence would have a huge effect on the team. Despite keeping clean sheets in the Champions League victories over Slovan Bratislava (0-4) and Sparta Prague (5-0), the league was a different story. City failed to keep the opposition out in nine successive league games, which only ended with a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium.
That came after a humiliating 4-0 home drubbing by Spurs and the annual defeat at Anfield, where Liverpool won 2-0, the second goal, inevitably, coming from the penalty spot, as it always does on Merseyside. But the most alarming match came at the end of November when the Blues were 3-0 up in the Champions League at home to Feyenoord. A Haaland brace and a goal by Ilkay Gundogan sent City cruising, but three goals in 15 minutes saw the Dutch side draw level and take an unlikely point.
City’s defence looked more fragile than a China cup, but victory over Forest should have been the catalyst that kick-started City’s season. Once again, they couldn’t keep the opposition out. Twice behind at Palace, conceding two at Juventus, losing to United and Villa, then drawing 1-1 at home to Everton, with the Blues getting just their fourth clean sheet of the Premier League season at Leicester.
The New Year should have been full of optimism. A 4-1 win over West Ham, was followed with an 8-0 home win over Salford City. The result wasn’t really in doubt, and the only bonus was the faces of the so-called class of 92, who watched as their team took a hammering at the hands of the Blues.
City’s inability to keep a clean sheet came back with a vengeance as Brentford recovered from 2-0 down to snatch a point, before PSG went one better, giving City a 2-0 lead before coming back to win 4-2. In between, City won 6-0 at Ipswich, which was their biggest Premier League win of the season, before ending the month with a 3-1 win at home to Club Brugge to scrape into the Champions League play-offs.
Back in the league, City would get a rude awakening from Arsenal and a result that would effectively, if not mathematically, rule them out of the Premier League race. City conceded after just two minutes but Arsenal missed a whole host of chances to increase their lead. So when Haaland levelled 10 minutes after half-time, they looked like paying for all those missed opportunities. But a minute later, the Gunners retook the lead, then went on to inflict City’s heaviest defeat in the league for some time, hammering the Blues 5-1, not the perfect build up to their Champions league encounter with Real Madrid.
Before that, they had to navigate past Leyton Orient, which they just about managed, before the showdown with the Spanish giants. City twice took the lead but once again, conceded before allowing a late goal to give Madrid the advantage. The Blues lost the return leg with barely a whimper and threw the opportunity to dent Liverpool’s title charge by losing 2-0 at home to the eventual champions.
March saw the Blues reach the FA Cup semi-final, their only chance at silverware this season, edging out Plymouth and Bournemouth, but in the league, lost to Forest and drew at home to Brighton. Incredibly, the loss at the City ground was City’s 9th defeat of the season, three times as many as in the previous season. It was a huge shock to the faithful, who had seen their team lose just 17 times across all four of their successive title-winning seasons.
The Blues managed to get some semblance of order in April, winning five of their six matches, keeping three clean sheets and reaching the FA Cup Final, but it took some good fortune to get there. Forest hit the woodwork three times at Wembley as City rode their luck, but they saw out the match to become the first team to reach three successive FA Cup Finals.
With the path to the final secured, City turned their attention to Champions League qualification. The Blues have appeared in every season of Europe’s top competition since 2012 but their hopes of another appearance hung in the balance. The Blues beat Wolves but had a surprise draw at relegated Southampton, a place where they would normally have son at a canter. It wasn’t the perfect build-up to the FA Cup Final, and when the final whistle went at Wembley, it was time to write the season off as a one-off blip...hopefully.
Eberechi Eze’s sweetly taken goal was enough to secure the Eagles first-ever major trophy and, to be fair, not many Blues would have denied them their celebrations. Palace defended stoutly throughout the match and resisted a City onslaught to take the trophy to South London.
The Blues secured Champions League football next season by beating Bournemouth and Fulham in their final matches, but, overall, it just wasn’t what was expected from the former champions.
On too many occasions, the key players failed to turn up, and it soon became apparent that many of the top stars who have guided City over the years seem no longer up to the job. Ilkay Gundogan’s return had the fans excited, but he seemed a shadow of his former self. Kevin de Bruyne, when fit, found himself unable to dictate the midfield and Erling Haaland found himself starved of service and chances.
But there were several sparks from the season that cannot be forgotten.
Omar Marmoush joined the club in January and has already made an impression with the supporters and he will be one to watch next season. But the breakthrough star has to be Nico O’Reilly. The youngster has started to force his way into the side, making nine appearances and scoring five goals this season. Rico Lewis is another stand-out performer, making 28 appearances in the Premier League and scoring the opener in the FA Cup semi-final.
With Oscar Bobb set to return next season, City will have a young, fresh look to their side which the faithful will hope will secure them silverware once again.