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City falter in Premier League title race

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola

Marten de Roon’s injury-time leveller snatched a draw for Middlesbrough as Manchester City were made to pay for a sloppy second-half performance at Etihad Stadium.

Sergio Aguero put City ahead, stabbing in Kevin de Bruyne’s cross for his 150th City goal with their 18th shot of the afternoon.

Boro were hugely improved after the break and Alvaro Negredo brought a fine save from Claudio Bravo with an audacious lob from the halfway line.

Pep Guardiola’s side looked to have withstood the isolated spells of Boro pressure but De Roon’s header from George Friend’s 91st-minute cross denied them.

It was the midfielder’s first goal in a Middlesbrough shirt, and came just a minute after De Bruyne missed an empty net following a mistake by Boro keeper Victor Valdes.

Five minutes before that, Aguero missed a clear chance to seal the win, firing badly wide when found by Jesus Navas in the box.

Guardiola described City’s 3-1 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday as a landmark win for his side – and warned against letting standards drop in the league.

But for all of City’s first-half dominance, that is exactly what happened. The home side managed 19 attempts on the Boro goal in the opening 45 but only six in the second half as they let the away side back in.

There was sloppy play in midfield, silly fouls that allowed the balance of play to turn at crucial moments, and then – after Aguero and De Bruyne’s bad misses – slack defending in injury time in protection of their lead.

City have now drawn each of their past three league games by the same 1-1 scoreline and are without a home league win since September.

They still lead the table by one point from Arsenal and Liverpool, and by two points from Chelsea, but whether they remain there depends on how those teams fare this weekend.

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