Monaco 2-2 Man City VERDICT: Pep Guardiola left frustrated as his side fail to see out victory AGAIN with late penalty from ex-Spurs man denies Champions League win

A guy hailing from a village near Oldham decided to rent a McLaren and whizz it through Monte Carlo in the hours before an increasingly familiar story for Pep Guardiola.

The exact location of his home was quickly apparent because on the roof of the sports car fluttered a Manchester City flag with the name Dobcross plastered across it.

Quite the spectacle for the locals who have to prove how wealthy they are before purchasing property here. All good fun, racing within the law, something a bit different in a principality of plastic.

He drove around the Monaco Grand Prix circuit without a care in the world but City were later taken for the proper spin as they threw away victory via a late penalty notched by Eric Dier.

Nico Gonzalez’s high boot on Eric Dier was enough for VAR to suggest that Jesus Gil Manzano blow for a very late spot kick and before that decision was made came a mass brawl, red cards for members of backroom staff from both benches and Gianluigi Donnarumma risking second booking for keeping the ball away from Monaco’s players ahead of the melee.

Erling Haaland had looked like the slick McLaren, another two goals to add to a growing collection this season, but it was Dier, the man he tormented all evening, who ultimately wheeled away after converting the stoppage time penalty to act as spikes in the road for City.

PEP STILL TINKERING

There are clearly things that Guardiola is trying to work through at the moment, different ways of playing, and the decision to name John Stones at right back is evidence of that. Stones hadn’t operated there since February 2024 – and not in the Champions League for almost three years.

With Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis both on the bench, this was obviously something new to study rather than preserving any legs.

Stones did occasionally move into the middle of the park, as he did so magnificently from centre half during the Treble run.

The concept from full back is not alien for Stones himself but is new for somebody like Tijjani Reijnders to become familiar with, learning not to take up the same spaces.

Moments arrived where Guardiola was seeing what the coaching staff wanted and watching Stones stride ahead of Haaland when possession was over the other side of the pitch presented an intriguing development.

In theory, his movement allowed City to widen the pitch – captain Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku hugging their touchlines – and the 15th-minute opening goal came from the visitors overloading central areas. 

Josko Gvardiol’s chose the right club from the bag for a 25-yard chip over Monaco’s back three, Haaland galloping on to prod past Philipp Kohn with his first touch of the night.

Guardiola mimed a dinking motion to the bench – a bench including ex-Liverpool coach James French, who has copied old boss Jurgen Klopp’s routine of staring down the opposition in the warm-ups - as if that had been a well-executed plan as City attempt to find fresh ways of attacking.

ADVERSITY BITES AGAIN 

They still didn’t have things all their own way though, with Jordan Teze – a defender by trade but starting in midfield owing to Monaco’s injury problems – curling in a wonderful equaliser three minutes after Haaland’s goal.

And it gave a barometer as to whether anything has changed since Guardiola’s discomfort with how City reacted to adversity in August, during defeats against Tottenham and Brighton. 

There was a spell of a few minutes where Monaco built a head of steam, with Donnarumma bizarrely booked for time-wasting – Guardiola having to pull remonstrating coach Kolo Toure away from the fourth official’s booth – and City needed to regroup.

Guardiola’s complaints in the early weeks of the season centred on a failure of sticking to the plan, not playing in harmony. They had appeared more willing to continue doing the same things and not worry about the consequences.

The caveat for that ought to have been that Monaco are much inferior opposition. Manager Adi Hutter and sporting director Carlos Ibarrola under increasing pressure from supporters and with Paul Pogba – still not fit after signing in the summer – sat in his private box.

But they managed to stay in the game, City hitting the bar twice, and capitalising on one moment. And City will look at it and believe they didn’t do enough to see this out.

HAALAND CHANNELS INNER RON 

Haaland is so comfortable in himself and with his own game at the moment that the Norwegian looked like he’d found a long-lost brother when bumping into substitute Takumi Minamino just before the second half got underway. The pair played together at Red Bull Salzburg and the affection was clear – but unusual to witness in the middle of a crucial European match.

Perhaps not conventional yet Haaland’s on one of those runs – nearly at 20 goals for club and country already - where nothing appears likely to distract him.

The way he added a second with a stunning header a minute before the break is testament to that. He hung waiting on Nico O’Reilly’s floated cross for an eternity in a similar vein to Cristiano Ronaldo in his pomp, cranking his neck to power into the corner.

Haaland’s relaxed demeanour mirrored that of his manager in the build-up to the game, joking with Silva about the last time City were here back in 2017. That ended in a 3-1 reverse and elimination from the competition in the last 16, Guardiola reminding Silva that City weren’t given the rub of the green during a first leg victory at the Etihad Stadium. 

He still holds a grudge against referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz for that. After the controversial award of Dier’s penalty, there is another name of a referee who Guardiola will remember for some time now.