Our defence of the Carabao Cup came to an end on Wednesday night, as we were knocked out by Man City following their 5-1 aggregate win over two legs.
Three goals in the first half from the hosts were enough to put the game to bed, with the sole positive from our night being Anthony Elanga’s brilliant second-half goal; his first for the club.
We spurned a host of huge chances in both halves, but our awful start was punished by Man City on a night where we lost yet another player to injury, as Anthony Gordon limped off with a worrying hamstring issue.
Here‘s what a tired-looking Eddie Howe had to say after the game, discussing his annoyance at our slow start, Gordon’s injury, our slump in form and the odd positive from last night’s disappointing defeat:
On last night’s performance
Where an early goal and strong start on Wednesday night could have been just what we needed to get back into the tie, Omar Marmoush’s opener killed the tie off in under ten minutes of action.
And there was simply no way back for us, as though we were much, much better attacking wise in the second half, Wednesday night’s performance still left a lot to be desired.
“We were craving that first goal and when Manchester City get it you know our task becomes even more difficult.
“I don’t think we played well in the first half an hour, we lost far too many individual duels. If you add up all our opportunities over the two ties, there was a lot of missed opportunities which has really cost us.
“I was really annoyed with the first-half display because I think we pride ourselves on being really organised and tactically we want to be able to hand any problem the opposition gives us.
“But that first half I just don’t think we were good enough individually and our duels were off. That gave us huge problems and we didn’t defend well at all I don’t think.”
On Gordon’s hamstring injury
To pile on the misery of the evening, we didn’t even manage to leave the Etihad Stadium injury-free, as Gordon was left unable to continue just before the first half came to a close.
And having already been without Bruno Guimaraes and Lewis Miley for this huge run of games, we can now add Gordon to a growing list of injured stars.
“It looks like a hamstring problem. I don’t quite know how bad it is.
“It was enough for him to come off, so that’s a big worry.”
On rough run of form
Our loss to the Cityzens means we’ve now won just one of our last seven games, with the side’s away woes continuing as we struggled to manage the busy schedule across all four competitions.
Howe discussed the relentless schedule and the importance of protecting confidence levels, especially with SEVEN more games to come between now and the end of February.
“Last year we went to big grounds and into games believing we’d win. We need to get that feeling back.
“The team has been knocked in recent weeks. We haven’t been outplayed throughout the games. But we haven’t taken the chances we’ve created. We need to protect confidence at all costs now.”
“It’s been a difficult schedule. We’re not gonna say any different, it’s been challenging for us because we’ve had quite a few injuries in similar positions. I think you can see an element of fatigue in the performance today.
“But I’m a firm believer in not making excuses and not looking for excuses and accepting responsibility. We have to do better as a group, re-focus our energy as we go back to the Premier League: we play Brentford which is a tough game, and we come out fighting, that’s all we can do.”
On positives from a tough night
The one bit of praise Howe could deliver after the game was to his substitutes, who did manage to have a mini impact on the game and posed a constant threat to the Manchester City defence.
Our evening peaked when Anthony Elanga managed to grab his first goal for us in all competitions with a sensational solo effort, which Howe was very pleased to see the former Nottingham Forest ace finally produce for us.
“I thought the substitutions (Elanga, Barnes, Murphy) all made a positive difference. I thought they really gave us new energy which is important.
“Great to see Anthony score his first goal for the club so there were positives there.
“We did create chances throughout that second half, we showed our qualities, it’s just a shame we couldn’t show that in the opening period as well.”
Rallying cry to his team
After the cup exit, a huge, huge performance is needed on Saturday against Brentford in the league to show we can still mean business.
We also have games in both the FA Cup and Champions League still to come, and Howe has set his expectations very high for the players and himself.
“We’re still fighting on several fronts, I think the game’s coming thick and fast, there’s no let-up for us.
“We need to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible, it’s the only thing that gives you new energy.”
Recognising that a big performance is needed not just to end our slump in form but to also show our appreciation for the travelling fans once again, Howe did show his gratitude for the supporters.
“They’re incredible. I’m really thankful for their response to what was a difficult night, and I’m sure they’ll have felt the pain of the performance in the first half.
“They responded, they supported the players which is what we always ask them to do, and they never let us down so a big thank you to them.”
