Enzo Maresca has refused to turn Manchester City’s goalkeeping into a debate, even after Gianluigi Donnarumma was beaten at his near post in the 3-2 win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday night.
The Italian had a rough evening at the Red Bull Arena. He was involved in three mistakes, and one of them cost a goal, as Leipzig twice dragged themselves level before Erling Haaland won it with 12 minutes left.
Maresca’s answer afterwards was short and clear. It was a mistake, he said, but it is not a concern, and he is not thinking about changing his No.1.
What did Maresca say about Donnarumma?
The Manchester City boss pointed straight to the save that came just before the goal, when Donnarumma used all of his height to tip a Christoph Baumgartner shot round the post soon after half-time.
Speaking after the game, Maresca said: “Not a concern but it’s a mistake. We recognise that it’s a mistake. At the moment I’m not thinking about the goalkeeping situation. A few minutes before the goal he’s done a save that no keeper in the world makes. Gigio knows he was not good with the first goal. He’s going to do better.”
That fits with the line he took last week, when he told his No.1 that no player at the club is undroppable. The message has not changed: Donnarumma keeps the shirt, but he has to cut out the errors.
How the Leipzig goal went in
City led 1-0 at the break after Nico O’Reilly’s run and cut-back forced Castello Lukeba into an own goal. Leipzig came flying out for the second half, and within minutes Ridle Baku had beaten Donnarumma at his near post from a tight angle.
It was not the only wobble. In the first half Antonio Nusa’s effort slipped through Donnarumma’s fingers and only dropped onto the roof of the net, he nearly let another one in, and Leipzig later hit the bar from a free-kick he should have got something on.
To be fair to the keeper, he was given far too much to do. Elliot Anderson and O’Reilly gave the ball away cheaply in their own half, and Nusa was left with too much space in the box to make it 2-2 just after Enzo Fernández had headed City back in front. You can relive how the whole night unfolded in our RB Leipzig 2-3 Man City match report.
‘Silly goals’ and a defence that keeps leaking
Maresca was more bothered by the goals as a whole than by one man. He did not blame the system or the balance of his midfield, either.
“Both goals are quite silly goals we can avoid,” he said. “We are creating many chances in each game but we need to avoid silly goals. It’s about working more. Understand and analyse. I’m new here, I need to know the players and they need to know me. We can only improve.”
He added: “I don’t think in this moment it’s a matter of balance. In the last five or six games we concede in all competitions [and] they are individual mistakes so it’s not about the system or a midfielder to the offensive line. It’s more individual mistakes that we need to do better to avoid.”
The numbers back up the worry. City have now let in 14 goals in their last seven games and have not kept a clean sheet since they won at Anfield last month. Conceding early has been part of the problem too, as we looked at in the habit Maresca had to fix before Leipzig.
Haaland covered the cracks again
The win was City’s first in four games and puts them on course for the top eight of the Champions League league phase, with nine points. But it came the way so many have: Haaland, quiet for long spells, popped up after Anderson’s run to score from close range.
Maresca made four changes from the weekend defeat to Brighton, with Marc Guehi coming in for captain Rúben Dias, and he is still searching for a settled back line and midfield. Relying on the Norwegian to outscore everyone else is not a plan that holds up for long.
Is Donnarumma’s place under threat before Forest?
Not on what Maresca said in Leipzig. Geronimo Rulli and Marcus Bettinelli sat on the bench unused, and the manager made it plain that the goalkeeping situation is not on his mind.
Our view is that he is right to back him for now. One save from Baumgartner showed the level Donnarumma can still reach, and dropping a keeper of his standing after one bad night would create more noise than it solves. But a trip to RB Leipzig was a reminder that City’s defending is the real problem, and on Saturday at Nottingham Forest, with no room to drop more Premier League points, the whole back line has to do better than this.
