78% of the ball and a Haaland header, but Coventry City had 1.37 xG and needed two late Donnarumma saves to stop them: Maresca's "ugly win".
The numbers
| Manchester City | Coventry City | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 77.6% | 22.4% |
| Shots | 15 | 12 |
| On target | 4 | 3 |
| xG | 2.12 | 1.37 |
| Corners | 4 | 5 |
| Pass accuracy | 91.7% | 63.6% |
Result the chances deserved: Manchester City 55% / 21% / Coventry City 24% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma, Khusanov, Dias, Guéhi, Gvardiol, Fernández, Anderson, Semenyo, Cherki, Ndiaye, Haaland.
Coventry City (3-4-2-1): Rushworth, Amenda, Thomas, Pinnock, van Ewijk, Onyeka, Grimes, Dasilva, Rudoni, Mason-Clark, Awoniyi.
Coventry City subs: Tchaouna & Yirenkyi (63', Rudoni & Onyeka), Thomas-Asante & Simms (71', Mason-Clark & Awoniyi), Hamer (86', Dasilva). Coventry manager: Frank Lampard. Yellow cards: City 1, Coventry 2 (Sky Sports). Subs and minutes from Man City's report (VAVEL has Foden on at 65'). Coventry's back five is listed as a 5-3-2 by VAVEL with Awoniyi alone up front; the places behind him are our reading. City's report describes Cherki on the right, but Semenyo made the goal from the right wing, so we show Cherki central. Minutes of the early Coventry chances differ: Sky Sports has Donnarumma's goal-line scramble at 6' and Awoniyi's miss at 8', City's own report 13' and 15'. VAVEL times the goal at 27'.
Key moments, move by move
- Fernández, on his debut, plays Semenyo into space down the right wing.
- Semenyo gets outside the Coventry City wing-back and reaches the byline.
- He crosses to the back post.
- Haaland escapes his marker and powers a header past Rushworth: his 300th top-flight career goal.
Around the back five, not through it, and chances handed back
- Coventry City's back five. Frank Lampard's side defended with five at the back and Awoniyi alone up front (VAVEL), gave up 77.6% of the ball and made 18 interceptions to City's 5 (Sky Sports). City completed 751 passes but only 4 of their 15 shots were on target.
- The way round was the right flank. Fernández released Semenyo, who reached the byline and crossed to the back post for Haaland. Fernández also crossed for Haaland's 58th-minute finish, ruled out for offside. Cherki hit the inside of the post before the goal.
- Chances handed back. Coventry's best early chances came from City's own build-up: Donnarumma had to clear a back-pass off his line, and Awoniyi ran clean through after a misplaced Semenyo pass and shot wide. Sky Sports counts three big chances missed by Coventry to City's two.
- Donnarumma kept the points. Rudoni was denied by a header save, and late on Donnarumma stopped Tchaouna's drive and Simms from point-blank range: "a pair of late saves" (Al Jazeera) that kept Coventry without a top-flight point for 25 years.
Recreate it in FM26
Switch to the right, cross to the back post
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Donnarumma | Ball-Playing Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper |
| RB | Khusanov | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Dias | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LCB | Guéhi | Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LB | Gvardiol | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RDM | Fernández | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Anderson | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Semenyo | Winger | Winger |
| AM | Cherki | Advanced Playmaker | Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Ndiaye | Inside Winger | Winger |
| ST | Haaland | Poacher | Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Passing DirectnessShorter
- Attacking TransitionPatient Build-Up
- Attacking WidthWider
- Progress ThroughRight
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Defensive LineHigher
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
The idea: Against a back five, go round it: a Deep-Lying Playmaker switches play to a Winger who beats the wing-back to the byline and crosses to the back post for a Poacher. You need a deep passer with range and a winger quick enough to get outside a wing-back.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 won't reproduce the build-up errors that gave Coventry City their chances, and those were the real warning from this match.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Formation 4-1-4-1, Foden on at 55' not 66' (for Cherki), Bouaddi on at 65' not 76' (for Fernández). An extra runner from midfield against the back five, Foden earlier to add a second goal, and Bouaddi to secure the build-up once Coventry brought on fresh forwards. It trades a little control for more box presence. It moves Manchester City's win chance from 55% to 60% (xG 2.12–1.37 becomes 2.32–1.32). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Manchester City needed
Phil Foden
Coventry City sat in a back five and City had 36 touches in their box without a second goal. Foden arrives late into the box better than any City midfielder, and within minutes of coming on he had a shot cleared off the line. With him from the start or at half-time, City have a second finisher beside Haaland.
Joshua Kimmich
Coventry's best chances came from City's build-up under pressure: a back-pass that nearly went in and a misplaced pass that sent Awoniyi through. Kimmich is calm under pressure at the base and plays long diagonals to the right side, the route that produced the goal.
What the analysts said
“It was a little bit of an ugly win.”Enzo Maresca
“Today, 9/10 times you finish conceding because we kept them alive by missing chances.”Enzo Maresca
“We can't lose belief off the back of three games.”Frank Lampard
“It has been difficult, like we said to each other, all the games are going to be hard.”Iliman Ndiaye
City had the ball; Coventry City got their chances from City's own mistakes.
Manchester City had 77.6% of the ball and completed 751 passes to Coventry City's 140 (Sky Sports). Yet Coventry, newly promoted and without a league goal, made 1.37 xG from 12 shots against City's 2.12 from 15. For a side with barely a fifth of the ball, that is a lot. Maresca's own summary was that nine times out of ten you concede in a game like this.
Look at where Coventry's chances came from. Early on, Donnarumma had to scramble a back-pass off his own line and Awoniyi ran through after a misplaced Semenyo pass. Late on, Tchaouna and Simms were only stopped by Donnarumma. Coventry did not break City's press with passing; they had 140 completed passes. They lived off City's errors under pressure and the space left while City chased a second goal.
The positives were real too. Fernández, starting only because O'Reilly was hurt in the warm-up, made the pass for the goal and the cross for Haaland's disallowed one. Against a back five, the route was wide on the right to Semenyo and a ball to the back post, and City found it more than once. What City did not do was kill the game: Cherki hit the post, Rushworth saved twice from Haaland, and Foden's late shot was cleared off the line.