Thursday 1 October 2015 06:46, UK
Manchester City's will to win shone through against Borussia Monchengladbach, but they still have plenty of defensive issues to sort out according to Sky Sports pundit Niall Quinn.
Manuel Pellegrini's side were forced to come from behind to beat Monchengladbach 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday night thanks to Sergio Aguero's late penalty, in the process becoming the first English team to win at Borussia-Park.
And the former City striker believes City can take a lot of heart from this hard-earned victory, which leaves them in third place in Group D, level on points with Seville after two games.
"The key thing they can take out if it is that they didn't give up," said Quinn. "They believed and once they got the break and [Nicholas] Otamendi got the equaliser, the belief surged into the City players.
"They sniffed the victory, then Borussia wilted. It was great pressure from City and that speaks volumes. They got their goals through two corner kicks. We also talk about their skill, but tonight it was a bit of graft they found."
However, Quinn was quick to highlight the defensive mistakes that could have easily cost City the game had it not been for a series of impressive saves by goalkeeper Joe Hart on his return from injury.
"But let's not forget that without Joe Hart it could have been over," he said. "I hope they learn lessons from their inept defensive performance and I'm not talking just about the two centre-halves - I'm talking about the way the players in front of them should have protected them too.
"You have to give Otamendi credit for the goal, but it was so obvious for long periods of the first half that they were all at sea. If you have Kompany around and things aren't going well, you see him re-organising and pulling people into place. These two guys don't do that; they just play their own game. Time and time again Raffael threaded a ball through."
Quinn was also critical of Yaya Toure's display, before the Ivorian midfielder was replaced at half-time following recent hamstring trouble.
"It was great that they got the result, but there are issues there," Quinn added. "It's so frustrating to see such a gifted player - it may come out that there was an injury - but I'm sad to say it actually helped City that Yaya came off."
However, the Irishman did have words of praise for midfielder Kevin De Bruyne's second-half display and manager Pellegrini's late ambition.
"De Bruyne wasn't at the races in the first half," said Quinn. "He made no impact, but once this belief came back, he was one of the leaders. He took the game by the scruff of the neck and laid on several chances. It was a whole different City then. Ultimately it took the penalty, but the desire showed through.
"[Pellegrini] could have been forgiven for taking the mentality, given Wolfsburg had broken several times, of shutting up shop, but he believed and he's got his rewards. A big pat on the back for Pellegrini."
