Man City Have the Spirit to Weather the Storm, Dias Says

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Manchester City's Portuguese defender #03 Ruben Dias from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Manchester City's Portuguese defender #03 Ruben Dias from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (AFP)
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Man City Have the Spirit to Weather the Storm, Dias Says

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Manchester City's Portuguese defender #03 Ruben Dias from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Manchester City's Portuguese defender #03 Ruben Dias from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (AFP)

Manchester City have the character to come through the rough patch of form that saw the defending champions slump to a fourth straight Premier League defeat at Liverpool on Sunday, defender Ruben Dias said.

Goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah gave leaders Liverpool a 2-0 win at Anfield which left City 11 points behind Arne Slot's side in fifth place.

City, who lost four league games in a row for the first time since 2008, are winless in their last seven matches in all competitions, a run that includes six defeats and a 3-3 draw at home against Feyenoord in the Champions League.

They have conceded 19 goals during the winless streak, shipping four in matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Sporting. Prior to the slump they had conceded 11 in 14 games.

"I will not talk about the little details but focus on the bigger picture," said Dias, who was at fault in the lead up to Liverpool's second.

"That is, even though it was a difficult moment I did see a lot of character and I did see the fans behind us and that is the only way we are going to go through it."

City, who have won six of the last seven Premier League titles, have been hit hard by injuries to key players such as Rodri, Mateo Kovacic and John Stones but manager Pep Guardiola has been able to guide the side through injury crises in previous seasons.

"This is just part of our legacy. We have won so much and still we are where we are and this happens," Dias added.

"We have been able to be versatile, adapt and keep on moving forward and thinking one game at a time... That is what we need to get back to."



Cristiano Ronaldo Nets 2 and Leads Saudi League in Scoring

Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Taawoun v Al Nassr - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia - January 17, 2025 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo during the warm up before the match. REUTERS/Stringer
Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Taawoun v Al Nassr - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia - January 17, 2025 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo during the warm up before the match. REUTERS/Stringer
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Cristiano Ronaldo Nets 2 and Leads Saudi League in Scoring

Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Taawoun v Al Nassr - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia - January 17, 2025 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo during the warm up before the match. REUTERS/Stringer
Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Taawoun v Al Nassr - King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia - January 17, 2025 Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo during the warm up before the match. REUTERS/Stringer

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Al-Nassr in a 3-1 victory over Al-Khaleej on Tuesday to move atop the Saudi Pro League goalscoring standings above Aleksandar Mitrovic and Karim Benzema.
The five-time Ballon D’Or winner fired Al-Nassr into the lead after 65 minutes, finding the net with a low shot from the edge of the area for his 100th goal contribution since joining the Riyadh club in December 2022, The Associated Press reported.
While Al-Khaleej made it 1-1 after 80 minutes, Sultan Al-Ghannam quickly restored the lead for Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo sealed victory eight minutes into stoppage time from close range for his 13th Saudi Pro League goal of the season. He is one ahead of Mitrovic of Al-Hilal and two in front of Benzema of Al-Ittihad.
Al-Nassr climbed into third but is 11 points behind Al-Hilal, which later defeated Al-Wehda 4-1 to go three points clear of Al-Ittihad.