Glenn Hoddle slams Man City defender Manuel Akanji for ‘switching off completely’ and allowing Lois Openda to give RB Leipzig an early lead during their Champions League clash

Glenn Hoddle has criticized Manuel Akanji for ‘switching off’ and allowing RB Leipzig to take an early lead against Manchester City in their Champions League match on Tuesday.

He also suggested that Akanji’s mistake, which allowed Lois Openda to score the Bundesliga opener, was due to mixed instructions from Pep Guardiola, who asked the defender to play in two positions at once.

Openda stunned the Cityzens in the first 35 minutes of the match, scoring twice within 33 minutes – with both goals coming from defensive errors.

He got his first in the 13th minute, taking advantage of a long ball from goalkeeper Janis Blaswich, before running through the Man City defense to smash the ball past Stefan Ortega.

And Glenn Hoddle has criticized Akanji for letting Openda turn away from him to continue one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Lois Openda scored twice within 33 minutes and took advantage of two defensive errors

The Cityzens were stunned when Pep Guardiola’s team trailed 2-0 at halftime

“He took it very well,” Hoddle told TNT Sports after Openda’s finish. “It’s actually Akanji, I don’t know where his mind was.

‘It’s all about mentality and he has returned as a centre-back. Started in that role in midfield. I think Pep has put him back there as a normal central defender. But he’s gone back as a centre-back, but he’s just completely out of action.

“There’s a long ball and we saw them play through the 18-yard line. It’s just one long kick from the goalkeeper. Look where he is [Openda’s] came between the two centre-backs to start his run. It’s just so bad defending.

While criticizing City’s poor defending, the TNT Sports commentator praised the Belgian striker for his excellent finishing.

‘Openda explains it very nicely. Keep a cool head. We haven’t seen him do that all season, but he has done extremely well.

‘He just kept a cool head. Has a quick look and puts him in the corner. City well, they’re really going to have to shake that up a bit. Pep won’t be happy about that.’

Openda, who joined the club earlier this summer, hit back not long ago after scoring his 13th goal in all competitions this season.

It came after a defensive error from Ruben Dias, with the 23-year-old beating away the City defender halfway before using his blistering pace to charge through on goal, shake off Josko Gvardiol and put his shot home. in the bottom left corner.

“What a beautiful, beautiful finish,” said Hoddle on the second goal.

For his second, Openda brushed aside Ruben Dias before rounding Josko Gvardiol and putting the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.

City’s slow start left Pep Guardiola stunned on the touchline, with the Spaniard making several changes after half-time

But Erling Haaland would pull one back after the break after missing a big chance in the first half

‘It again stems from a mistake. Dias has been like this all night. He was booked for attempting to get too tight too fast.

‘Sometimes you just have to let the striker have the ball. And that happened three times tonight. He has tried to win the ball on the halfway line, but there is no real danger and he gets a spin. Too tight, let him have it.

‘Gvardiol is coming over. Sells itself, but this really is a fantastic little dummy [from Openda] and he sells it with his eyes. He shapes himself as if he is going over the goalkeeper. He still has a lot to do to score the goal.

‘Gvardiol has to let him go through the left channel, but this is brilliant. He shapes his body like he’s going over the left goalkeeper and just puts it back into the left goalkeeper, and it’s a beautiful finish. And they deserve it.’

After missing a clear chance in the first half, Erling Haaland pulled one back for the Cityzens after the break to make it 2-1.

More to follow…