Manchester City just couldn't find it against Southampton in St Mary's on Saturday when defender Manuel Akanji completed 90 minutes against the relegated side for the first time since February
Manuel Akanji has revealed that he played the pain barrier this season after his first full match in more than three months in Southampton. The Swiss defender admitted his frustration at the scoreless draw in the soil club of the Premier League after City had 26 efforts on goal.
But the weekend before the FA Cup final, Akanji said he was happy to make his first start since he was operated on his torn adductor who suffered in the defeat of the Champions League against Real Madrid in February.
“I am happy to be back,” Akanji said. “First 90 minutes after my injury. I am really happy that the manager gave me the confidence to start again.
“I played with a lot of pain all season. At one point it was too much for my body. It was when I did the MRI and the doctor was stunned and said I needed an operation, so I knew it was too much.
“I feel really good, I felt really good on the field. The last 15-20 minutes were tough because it was my first 90 minutes back. I have faith in my body. I wish it would have been with three points, but hopefully we can get the trophy next weekend.”
Erling Haaland also returned after missing seven games with an ankle injury, but City could not beat Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale. The deposed champions missed the opportunity to draw level on points with the second placed Arsenal and could now win their last two Premier League matches against Bournemouth and Fulham to seal a return to the Champions League.
“It was definitely a frustrating result, we wanted to get three points today and perhaps confirm our place in the Champions League, but it didn't want to go inside,” said Akanji. “I think we tried more than 90, 100 minutes from the first minute, we tried everything. They had a lot of energy in the first half, in the second half we had more chances because they got tired. It wasn't.
“It was one of those days, it was not a lack of effort. You can certainly see that we tried to stick a lot of crosses, we had remotely corners and shots in the 18 Yard's box that were blocked, good saves from the keeper. Perhaps a better finish or better pass to finish the action?”
Asked if the game was a story of their season, Akanji claimed: “It is the story of football. Sometimes you are more lucky, sometimes not. Last week against Wolves and Villa before the opponent had opportunities before we scored and did not go inside. After it went for us.
“Two months ago it felt like everything was against us, sometimes you are not so happy. It was not about happiness, they defended well and maybe we should have completed one action better and it would go inside. We were really good – they played a lot of long balls and we almost all won.