Jamie Redknapp: Nicolas Otamendi Becomes the Reason of Manchester City’s defeat

DBasia.news –  Manchester City took a shock 2-3 defeat to Norwich City in the continued Premier League match at Carrow Road. Jamie Redknapp assessed the defeat as a result of Nicolas Otamendi’s mistake.

In that match, Otamendi for the first time side by side with John Stones in the heart of Man City’s defense in the Premier League. Stones appeared as a major player because of Man City’s mainstay defender, Aymeric Laporte, suffered an injury two weeks ago and had to be sidelined for the next six months.

The absence of Laporte plus Otamendi’s poor performance made a gaping hole in the defense of The Citizens. This was seen when the Canaries – Norwich nickname – scored the second and third goals.  

Norwich’s second goal scored by Todd Cantwell shows how weak Man City’s defense is. At that time, Teemu Pukki’s bait into the Man City penalty box disrupted the coordination of the Stones and Otamendi. As a result, Cantwell easily struck the ball into Man City’s goal guarded by Ederson Moraes.

Then in the 50th minute, Otamendi who played the ball behind made a mistake. At that time, the ball which was at the feet of the Argentina defender was successfully won by Emilio Buendia. Brilliantly, Buendia also unleashes a low cross which can be converted into a goal by Pukki.

“Otamendi protested when the ball was controlled by Buendia. What is he complaining about? Then, Norwich’s second goal showed that Man City missed Aymeric Laporte. The combination between Otamendi and Stones is not well established,” Redknapp said, quoting the Daily Mail, Monday (09/16/2019).

As a result of that defeat, Man City failed to keep their distance from Liverpool at the top of the standings. Currently, Man City, who is still sitting in the second position with a collection of 10 points, five points adrift of Liverpool on the top stair.