“Would've averted at least 1 goal” - Manchester City fans blame ‘suicidal’ decision to bench player as reason for 4-3 loss to Al-Hilal

Manchester City fans have slammed Pep Guardiola and Ruben Dias online after a 4-3 loss to Al-Hilal in the FIFA Club World Cup round of 16. Many believe that Abdukodir Khusanov should have played in the match instead of the Portuguese star and called it a 'suicidal' decision to bench him.

Taking to social media after City crashed out of the competition, fans expressed their concern with Guardiola using Dias in a highline. They wanted to see Khusanov up against Malcom and Marcos Leonardo and one of them said:

"just conceded 4 to a saudi side & khusanov still won't get a sniff"

Many were quick to highlight how the youngster would have been the better pick and wrote:

"genuinely, Dias struggles in a highline. Khusanov is right there"

"Playing a high line and not having Khusanov is suicidal. He's our fastest player," added another.

"Khusanov's pace and ability on the ball outweighs Ruben Dias's leadership." said one more.

"This is the type of match that Khusanov pace would have averted at least 1 goal. But baldie prefers Jumanji and Ake," said another fan furiously after the game.

One fan was confident that Khushanov would have helped Manchester City win the match if he had been at least brought on from the bench during the game. He added:

"If we started Khusanov we win this game. Forget start, even brought on"

Another Cityzen went on to claim that the Uzbekistan international would not have played for Guardiola if he had delivered the same performance as Dias on Monday (30 June).

"If Khusanov was having this Ruben Dias performance tonight, we wouldn't see him again for 6 months."

Some fans are convinced that the defeat to Al-Hilal should be the last game where Dias starts over Khusanov and said:

"Said it for a while, but no way I'd be playing Dias over Khusanov in this team going forward."

Manchester City took a 1-0 lead in the first half through Bernardo Silva (9'), but Al Hilal managed to bounce back with a quick start to the second half. Marcos Leanardo (46') and Malcom (52') scored within seven minutes of the restart to turn the game around, but Erling Haaland managed to equalize just three minutes later.

The game went into extra-time after both sides failed to score in the rest of the 90 minutes. Former Chelsea and Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly scored four minutes into extra time, but once again, Manchester City restored parity 10 minutes later through Phil Foden, thanks to a stunning ball from Rayan Cherki.

Marcos Leonardo was the hero for Al-Hilal as he scored eight minutes from time to seal a thrilling 4-3 win.

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Pep Guardiola confident that Manchester City can do well in 2025-26 season

Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City let Al-Hilal back in the game after a dominating first half. He said that this allowed the Saudi Pro League side to create chances and told the media via the club website:

"At this stage, they are all difficult games. We allowed them to create transitions but we created a lot and in general we were good. It's a pity. We were in such a good place and I cannot say thank you enough to the staff, how they train and prepare, they have given everything. We made a lot of actions and Bounou made incredible saves. Nothing else to say. I have the feeling that the team is doing well but we go home and now time to rest and refresh our mind and come back next season."

"I saw many good things that I didn't see in the past, especially how we were, the relations between the players and the staff. I felt we were happy here and the sessions were really good but the levels here are so high. The chances we had, they defended so deep and Bounou made a lot of saves but you have to score and be so clinical."

Manchester City will be heading out of the United States on Tuesday, July 1, and currently have no pre-season games planned. As things stand, their next match will be the Premier League season opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 16.