Jamie Carragher believes Rodri let Rico Lewis down with the pass that led to the pivotal goal as Man City were beaten 1-0 by Tottenham.
City continued their wretched run at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, Harry Kane firing home the only goal of the game to condemn the Blues to a fifth straight defeat at the ground without scoring a single goal. The 29-year-old became the North London club's all-time top goalscorer on 267 goals, taking advantage of a mistake by Rodri to slot past a stunned Ederson.
Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg sensed an opportunity as City tried to play out from the back, and when Rodri under-hit a pass to Lewis who was facing his own goal, the Spurs midfielder pounced before laying on Kane to notch his 200th Premier League goal. And after the final whistle, former Liverpool defender Carragher has sympathy for the 18-year-old.
RATINGS: Grealish good but Rodri poor in Spurs defeat
"I fear for Rico Lewis in that position there," Carragher told Sky Sports.. "I think Rodri has really let him down. Lewis, we’ve raved about him so he can take that responsibility, can take the ball in there, he’s really brave. Obviously we can see the finish from Harry Kane, but what Rodri does is he knows the pass he’s going to make before.
"He plays it once and as it comes back to him, he knows he’s going to play this pass into Lewis and he’s trying to entice the Tottenham player onto him to almost play a one-two around the corner. Because Rico Lewis is stood still, Hojbjerg reads the pass then jumps. He should play the pass into Kyle Walker, he could even play it into the goalkeeper, but don’t play it into Rico Lewis."
Kane's goal proved the decider as a frustrated City were unable pull level. Erling Haaland failed to register a shot on target for the first time in his short but prolific Premier League career, cutting a dejected figure with service at a premium.
The Blues' failure to produce a similar comeback to the 4-2 win at the Etihad last month made Rodri's mistake all the more telling, and Souness echoed Carragher's criticism of the weak and 'sloppy' pass.
"For me, this is all down to Rodrigo here, this is a sloppy pass," Souness added. "The young boy Lewis doesn’t even want the ball and it’s rolled into him, it’s not even passed properly into him.
"Hojbjerg, give him great credit for managing to stay on his feet and pass the ball, but watch the ball that Rodri plays into Lewis. He’s rolling it into him, he’s never there, Hojbjerg’s read it. I played there and used to get so much pleasure out of doing what Hojbjerg’s doing here, it generally leads to an effort on the opposition’s goal.
"It isn’t even a pass, instead of firing it and saying there you are, he’s just rolled it in, it was an invitation Hojbjerg couldn’t refuse. Young Lewis doesn’t want the ball here, he’s just rolled it in."
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