‘We must be more clinical in the box’

CITY were disappointed to leave Old Trafford with a draw having made it ‘impossible’ for themselves to win, according to Rodri.

Neither side created much in a dull affair that lacked spark but Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling all had opportunities to score that they failed to take as the struggles in front of goal for Pep Guardiola’s team continue.

City’s manager expressed satisfaction at the ‘good point’ in his press conference after the game, citing the resoluteness of a defence that has now kept a club record of six clean sheets in all competitions.

Rodri agreed with Guardiola that City had the better of the play but says the team must work on being more clinical if they are to work their way up the Premier League table.

“There were a lot of tactical battles on the pitch. There weren’t many chances to score, but I think we got two clear chances. I think we created a little bit more than them,” said Rodri.

“In these big matches, you aren’t going to have many opportunities to score, so when you have them, you need to convert them. If you don’t score them, it’s impossible to win.

“Of course, we are disappointed. We wanted to win.

“We have great players up front, they usually score a lot of goals. Sometimes it happens that you don’t score the goals, sometimes you need a bit of luck as well. We need to keep working, keep pushing, keep fighting.

“But we need to work on being more clinical in the box.”