Player Ratings: Missed chances cost City in Monaco stalemate

Oct 2, 2025 3 min read
Player Ratings: Missed chances cost City in Monaco stalemate
Manchester City were held to a draw by Monaco in the Champions League.

Manchester City drew their second Champions League game 2-2 against Monaco despite being ahead twice in the game.

Erling Haaland score twice for City but it wasn’t enough for all three points in their first away UCL game of the season.

A world class strike from Teze and a controversial penalty won and converted by Eric Dier meant that Pep Guardiola’s side had to settle for just a point.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tonight&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCL</a> Player of the Match... <a href="https://twitter.com/ErlingHaaland?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ErlingHaaland</a>! 😁 <a href="https://t.co/LWF7uIO5MF">pic.twitter.com/LWF7uIO5MF</a></p>&mdash; City Xtra (@City_Xtra) <a href="https://twitter.com/City_Xtra/status/1973497341559943609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Haaland‘s start to the season

Haaland scored another brace in the draw taking his total for the season to 16, 11 coming for City in just eight appearances.

Both of his goals were completely different with his first coming from his first touch of the game as he lifted the ball over the keeper with a deft touch after a good pass from Josko Gvardiol.

His second showed his pure athleticism as Nico O’Reilly lifted the ball into the box and the Norweigan rose highest and headed the ball into the far corner.

However his two goals couldn’t secure the win for his side and he himself wasn’t happy at all after the game with his own performance and the result as a whole.

“We don't feel good. We don't win. We did something unnecessary in the second-half, and we didn't play good enough, so we don't deserve to win”
Pep Guardiola watched on as his side gave away two leads against Monaco.

Guardiola’s frustration

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was visibly unhappy with the officials at the end of the game due to the awarding of the late Monaco penalty.

“I have nothing to say to Spanish referees.”

Despite seeing his side give away the lead on two separate occasions, Guardiola was largely positive with how his team played.

“A really good game. We made some decisions, we created a lot of chances. Unfortunately at the end we defended an unfair free-kick not perfectly, and we conceded a penalty that [Nico] touched the ball first, no intention. But it is what it is.”

Yesterday‘s draw now marks an entire year since Guardiola‘s side managed to win an away game in Europe.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Gianluigi Donnarumma- 6.8/10

John Stones- 5.5/10

Ruben Dias- 7.2/10

Josko Gvardiol- 7/10

Nico O’Reilly- 7.5/10

Rodri- 6/10

Tijjani Reijnders- 5.8/10

Phil Foden- 7.8/10

Jeremy Doku- 6/10

Erling Haaland- 7.7/10

Substitutes:

Nico Gonzalez- 5.3/10

Savinho- 5.5/10

Matheus Nunes- 6/10

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