In the 88th minute, Rodri scored a crucial goal for Manchester City, giving them a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United and their third straight win to start the Premier League championship defense.

When Kyle Walker’s error allowed Jayden Bogle to score an improbable equalizer in the 85th minute, City appeared to be losing a game it had dominated after Erling Haaland rebounded to missing a first-half penalty by breaking the score in the 63rd.

Walker made apologies by recovering possession of the ball on the right flank, crossing to Phil Foden, whose error allowed Rodri to score with a ferocious left-foot effort into the top corner.

The home team had just over 16% of the ball in the first half, which was less than anyone would have predicted for this match, but they were tenacious and determined not to hand the Premier League champions any easy goals. Burnley, a team that was also promoted, was dismantled in just four minutes, but the Blues had to work much harder in this situation.

Pep Guardiola, who had to have surgery for a back ailment, was also missing for the next few weeks, so they had to manage without his constant orchestrating. Juanma Lillo took on a watching role rather than a screaming one while he was away, seldom ever leaving his chair, let alone the technical area.The crowd was excited by that because they hadn’t had anything to cheer about up until that point and realized they could make a difference. But it would turn out that they were mistaken.

Despite City’s shaky offensive performance, it was amazing to see how secure they appeared at the back after two league shutouts. The City defense was impenetrable even without the injured John Stones, the unwell Manu Akanji, the sold Aymeric Laporte, and the exiled Joao Cancelo.