Premier League

Manchester City 1-1 WBA, Player Ratings: Gundogan brilliance not enough

Manchester City lost more ground in the Premier League title race as they were held to a 1-1 home draw against struggling WBA.

 
10:50pm on Tuesday 15th December 2020
By
Robin Bairner

Manchester City were held to a fifth Premier League draw of the season against second bottom West Brom at the Etihad Stadium.

Ilkay Gundogan put Pep Guardiola's side into a first-half lead but a Ruben Dias own goal squared the game before the break.

City dominated the second half but could not find a winner and are now five points behind Tottenham and Liverpool at the top of the standings.

Man City v WBA: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats

But who were the best and worst performers from both sides?

✔️ GOOD PERFORMANCE

Raheem Sterling: 7.8

The England attacker is not necessarily enjoying his best season, but there was cause for encouragement thanks to a lively performance against West Brom.

He teased the visiting defence more than any of his team-mates and was the source of the opening goal of the game thanks to an intelligent cutback.

While he will want to add goals to recent performances - he has only one in his last 10 - and had a late headed chance, but this was his brightest overall display in quite some time.

BAD PERFORMANCE

Gabriel Jesus: 5.6

With Sergio Aguero now getting minutes again, the pressure is on the young Brazil international to justify his selection at the forefront of Pep Guardiola's attack.

In this encounter, he failed to do that. He was entirely peripheral to the course of the match, touching the ball only on 26 occasions - barely more than visiting striker Karlan Ahearne-Grant, who rarely got a sniff.

When he had a promising sight on goal, he headed over.

It wasn't a nightmare display, but City expect better.

STAR MAN

Ilkay Gundogan: 8.7

He may not be Manchester City's most celebrated player, but he was certainly their most important against WBA.

Not noted for his goalscoring, he timed his run into the box well to convert a Raheem Sterling cutback to seemingly put his team in the direction of three points.

A stoppage-time header nearly pinched the points but Sam Johnstone made a fine stop. A minute later, his whipped free kick brushed the side netting.

Although it was not to be, he was tremendously active for City both in and out of possession. He recovered the ball on a game-high 12 occasions and completed 102 passes, 48 of which were in the final third - another two match-high figures.

Man City v WBA: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats

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