Crystal Palace pulled off one of the shock results of the season with a 3-2 win against Man City at the Etihad on Saturday.
Despite taking the lead through Ilkay Gundogan, City lost for only the second time this season after three goals from Palace, one a contender for goal of the season from Andros Townsend.
Talking on Match of the Day (Sat, BBC1, 10.30pm) Wright said that the huge problem that Pep Guardiola has is replacing defensive midfielder Fernandinho when he’s not playing.
“When you consider they brought on Kevin De Bruyne, Aguero and Mahrez, that’s not a bad bench,” said Wright.
“But Fernandinho they can’t replace. Pep has got to try and find a way to plug that gap when he’s not playing.”
Despite taking the lead through Ilkay Gundogan, City lost for only the second time this season after three goals from Palace, one a contender for goal of the season from Andros Townsend.
Talking on Match of the Day (Sat, BBC1, 10.30pm) Wright said that the huge problem that Pep Guardiola has is replacing defensive midfielder Fernandinho when he’s not playing.
“When you consider they brought on Kevin De Bruyne, Aguero and Mahrez, that’s not a bad bench,” said Wright.
“But Fernandinho they can’t replace. Pep has got to try and find a way to plug that gap when he’s not playing.”
Wow, fair to say that no one was expecting this, not even Roy Hodgson or Andros Townsend. His goal was incredible, an absolutely perfect volley that has probably already sealed the goal of the season award. The ironic thing about City is that despite all the talent in the squad – and as Ian Wright pointed out, the subs they brought on were incredible – it’s Fernandinho that they were missing so much yesterday.
They’ve got cover for almost every position on the pitch but they haven’t got anyone who can come in and replace the Brazilian when he’s not playing. These are the players that never get the plaudits. And they’re never picked in FPL because they rarely score and assist. But Man City are missing him and John Stones wasn’t the answer against Crystal Palace. No one expected Liverpool to be four points clear on Christmas Day but that’s exactly what’s happened.