Guardiola’s Squad Faces Off with the Injury Bug…
Pep Guardiola, the man known for being the tactical brain behind Manchester City, is watching his team drop quicker than tails in a coin toss. Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champions, found themselves in a snail race to the Champions League spots after a 2-2 home draw against Brighton. In a shocking plot twist, the pesky Seagulls pecked their way to a spot at the Etihad buffet, taking their first slice of points.
The Etihad guard dogs were missing Ederson, their main man between the sticks, who was wrestling with some pesky abs—possibly post-ab-cradle from a previous wrestle at Nottingham Forest. In his “non-plane” role, Ortega was fooled by Pervis Estupinan’s free-kick dignity strike, watching in disbelief as it cannonballed into the net.
Super-sub Bernardo Silva spring-cleaned the pitch, swapping in for Savinho—a.k.a. Mr. Yellow Card. But alas, the pitch doesn’t play fair, with Silva busting his groove in just a 20-minute dance before gingerly limping off. Despite the setbacks, Guardiola still sees the glass as half-full—or perhaps half-injury-free—clinging to hope that, come the international break, they’ll resemble a football team rather than a hospital ward. “He couldn’t walk properly, so I said ‘Go join the bench-warming squad’; it’s safer there!” he quipped to BBC Sport.
