Manchester City needed a late Erling Haaland strike to win 3-2 at RB Leipzig on Wednesday, and Enzo Maresca admitted afterwards that his side had made life harder than it needed to be.
City led twice. A Castello Lukeba own goal and a strike from Enzo Fernandez put them ahead, but Ridle Baku and Antonio Nusa both equalised for Leipzig. Haaland settled it in the 78th minute for his 14th goal of the season.
The first equaliser came after an error from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, which was the sort of mistake that has dogged City lately.
The win ended a poor run in some respects, but not all. City have now gone seven matches without a clean sheet, and they arrived in Germany on the back of two successive league defeats, to Aston Villa and Brighton. They are seventh in the Champions League league phase table.
Maresca was keen to separate the errors from the system. "Both goals are quite silly goals that we can avoid," he said. He added that this was not a concern, but a mistake, and stressed that the issue was not about the tactical approach.
There was a warm moment too. Maresca described Leipzig coach Demichelis as a very good friend, and called the game tough in some moments.
City now turn to the Premier League, where they travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. With Forest struggling badly, it is a fixture City should win, but their defensive habits will need fixing first.
