Former Chelsea midfielder Andy Townsend has advised more and more Premier League teams to emulate Lyon’s approach whenever they play against Manchester City.

The Premier League champions were handed a shock 2-1 defeat during their Champions League Group F opener to Lyon on Wednesday night at the Etihad Stadium.




The hosts looked uncharacteristically out of sorts during the first half and two individual errors from Fernandinho led to their downfall as the visitors opened the scoring through Maxwel Cornet before Nabil Fekir added another just before half-time.

Pep Guardiola’s absence from the touchline was felt massively as he watched on from the stands when his team wilted under the pressure from Lyon.
 


Bernardo Silva pulled a goal back for Manchester City in the second half, but soon they ran out of ideas inside the final third as Bruno Genesio’s men held on for a memorable win away from home.

Townsend was in attendance at the Etihad and went on to claim that Premier League teams should take inspiration from Lyon when they face Manchester City next.

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“Lyon were well organised and also had a structure that meant that when they went 2-0 up, they did not panic and they never looked like they were hanging on at all really”, Townsend said on BBC Radio 5 live.

“They were also full of confidence going forward, which is an approach more Premier League sides should take against City.

“I saw Wolves do something similar in August, and they also looked dangerous.

“If you just try to stay in the game at 0-0 against City and try to run the clock down, then more often than that you are just going to get turned over.

“But if you have got a threat yourself and believe you can score or, at least, create chances – then you can make things very difficult for them, especially if, collectively, their players have another night like this one”, he added.

Manchester City are currently rock bottom in their Champions League group after Shakthar Donetsk and Hoffenheim played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in Wednesday’s early kick-off in Group F.