2021–22 Manchester City F.C. season

Euro 2020 began with 15 Manchester City first team players selected in the qualified squads; which with Chelsea was the most representatives from a single club.[1][2] However Joao Cancelo was forced to withdraw days after the tournament began due to a positive COVID-19 test result,[3] and Eric Garcia joined Barcelona while the tournament was in progress. Out of these City players, all their squads reached the knock-out stages, seven reached the semi-finals and four England players reached the final,[4] but ended up as runners-up.

City also had 3 representatives selected at the 2020 Copa America. Sergio Aguero joined Barcelona while the tournament was in progress. All three reached the final, but the two remaining Brazilian players also ended up as runners-up.[5]

As a result of having many players involved deep into these tournaments and with City's involvement in the 2021 Champions League final, City began their pre-season with all but eight of their first team rested on holiday. Only Zack Steffen, Benjamin Mendy, Riyad Mahrez, and Fernandinho from the regular starters in 2020–21 were able to participate in a full pre-season. However, this gave an opportunity for several EDS players to showcase their talents for a possible first-team place.

Most of the pre-season transfer speculation concerned the potential replacements for Sergio Aguero, who had left at the end of the 2020–21 season after 10 years and as the club's all-time leading goalscorer. Of the potential targets, Harry Kane was seen as the leading candidate, but was expected to command a significant and possibly record breaking transfer fee from Tottenham.[6] There was also speculation that Jack Grealish would be signed from Aston Villa on an similarly record fee to strengthen City's creative midfield[7] and provide additional cover for Kevin De Bruyne who had experienced several extended periods of injury absence during the previous seasons.[8]

Grealish completed his transfer to City on 5 August 2021, signing a 6-year contract, for what at the time was a reported record British transfer fee of £100 million.[9] He was allocated the iconic number 10 shirt, previously worn by Aguero between 2015 and 2021.[10]

On 7 August, in the traditional season curtain raiser of the FA Community Shield, played between the previous seasons league champions and FA Cup winners; an under strength Manchester City were beaten 1–0 at Wembley by Leicester City with an 89th-minute penalty won and scored by former City academy graduate Kelechi Iheanacho.[11]

The Premier League season began with all restrictions on stadium attendances lifted for the first time since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.[12]

City began their league season on 15 August with a third consecutive competitive 1–0 defeat, this time against Tottenham at their north London stadium. This was the first time in 10 years that City had failed to win their opening league game of the season; coincidentally the last time being a 0–0 away draw at White Hart Lane in the 2010–11 season. It was also City's fourth consecutive defeat at Tottenham since the new stadium was opened and meant that City had yet to score a goal at this ground.

On 25 August, Harry Kane announced he would be staying at Tottenham "this summer", ending the speculation that City would be able to negotiate an acceptable transfer fee with Tottenham's chairman Daniel Levy.[13] On the same day it was reported that Pep Guardiola had revealed that he would leave the club when his current contract ended in summer 2023.[14] However, Guardiola later retracted this and said he was talking about whenever his contract at City ended he would be considering an opportunity to manage a national side.

On 26 August, Benjamin Mendy was charged by Cheshire Constabulary with four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.[15][16] Mendy was immediately suspended by City, and remanded in custody with a trial date set for 24 January 2022.[17]

On 8 September it was announced that Brazil, and three other South American nations, had invoked a five-day FIFA ban on Premier League players who had been called up for international duty for 2022 World Cup qualifiers during the September international window; but who had been refused permission to travel by their clubs to avoid a 10-day quarantine period required by UK Government public health regulations when they returned from so called "Red list" countries with high levels of COVID-19 infection. This would've prevented City from including Ederson and Gabriel Jesus in their squad to play Leicester City on 11 September.[18][19] However the ban was rescinded on the morning of the fixture, and City went on to win the game 1–0 with both Brazilian players in the starting XI.[20]

On 15 September, City beat RB Leipzig 6–3 in their first UEFA Champions League group game of the season. At the time this was Pep Guardiola's 300th game as City manager and 750th overall; and City became the fastest English team to register 50 Champions League wins (91 games), and the second fastest of all time behind Real Madrid (88 games).[21][lower-alpha 1]

On 21 September, City beat League One side Wycombe Wanderers 6–1 at home in the third round of the EFL Cup. This win was Pep Guardiola's 220th as City manager, equalling the club record previously held by Les McDowell between 1950 and 1963. Guardiola had achieved this in only 302 games compared to 592 games managed by McDowell. The game was also noteworthy in that six academy graduates made their City first team debuts that night, the most in the modern history of the club academy.[22]

On 25 September, City defeated Chelsea, one of their main title rivals who at the time were on a streak of three consecutive wins against City. The Blues recorded a 1–0 away win at Stamford Bridge to mark Guardiola's 221st City win and make him the most successful manager in the club's history.[23]

On 12 October, five City players started for England versus Hungary in their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier 1–1 draw at Wembley Stadium. This set a new club record for representatives starting in a national team XI.[24]

On 27 October City were beaten 5–3 on penalties after a goalless draw at West Ham United in the fourth round of the EFL Cup, thus ending their 4 year domination of the competition in which they hadn't lost a competitive fixture in 21 games since the 2016–17 season.[25]

City's early season league form was variable; and by the time of the final autumn international break in early November they had two defeats and two draws from their first 11 league fixtures; and only 2 points more than in the 2020–21 season (where they had also started off slowly, but then had embarked on a record breaking mid season winning streak to secure their league title). However, City had by then played all of the previous season's other top 5 clubs away from home, remaining undefeated and only dropping points in their 2–2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield. The other favourites for the league title had also dropped points against lower league opposition; so that by 7 November City were in second place, just 3 points behind the early league leaders Chelsea, and equal on points with surprise form team West Ham. With 2 group games remaining City were also just a point from qualifying for the knockout stage of that season's Champions League.

On 24 November, City duly qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League as Group A winners when they beat Paris Saint Germain 2–1 at home.[26]

City's 2–1 away victory against Aston Villa on 1 December was Guardiola's 150th win in the Premier League. He became only the 4th manager to achieve this at a single club and the fastest to achieve the milestone in only 204 games. [27]

On 4 December (Gameweek 15) City beat Watford 3–1 away to notch up 5 consecutive league victories and reach the top of the Premier League for the first time that season.

City's 1–0 win against Wolves in their following league game was notable as Raheem Sterling scored his 100th Premier League goal and Ederson kept his 100th clean sheet for the club in all competitions.[28][29]

On 14 December, City beat Leeds United 7–0 at home to record their biggest victory of the season so far. The first goal, scored by Phil Foden marked the 500th scored by a Pep Guardiola team in the Premier League; and he became the fastest to record this feat after only 207 games, beating the previous record by Juergen Klopp (234 games).[30]

The league fixtures were announced on 16 June 2021.[97]

Manchester City v Leeds United

14 December 2021 17	Manchester City	7–0	Leeds United	Manchester
20:00 GMT	Foden  8' Grealish  13' De Bruyne  32', 62' Dias  40' Mahrez  49' Stones  74' Ake  78'	Report	Firpo  20'	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 52,401 Referee: Paul Tierney

As a Premier League club, City entered the tournament in the third round proper. The third round draw was held on 6 December 2021 live on ITV4, before the second round tie between Boreham Wood and St. Albans City, by former England Internationals David Seaman and Faye White. City were drawn away to League Two side Swindon Town.[98]

The draw for the third round was made on 25 August 2021 live on Sky Sports after the conclusion of the second round tie between West Bromwich Albion vs Arsenal by Kevin Phillips and Kevin Campbell. City were drawn at home versus League One side Wycombe Wanderers.[99][100] The draw for the fourth round was made on 22 September 2021 after the conclusion of the third round ties by Micah Richards and Harry Redknapp. City were drawn away to fellow Premier League side West Ham United, who had beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford in the third round.[101][102]

As per tradition, the game was played between the previous season's FA Cup winners and the Premier League Champions. This was Manchester City's first FA Community Shield since 2019 when they beat Liverpool 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. On this occasion an under strength City were beaten 1–0 by Leicester City with an 89th-minute penalty won and scored by former City academy graduate Kelechi Iheanacho.

The draw for the group stage was held on 26 August 2021[103] with the fixtures being announced a day later.[104]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MCI	PAR	RBL	BRU
1	Manchester City	6	4	0	2	18	10	+8	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–1	6–3	4–1
2	Paris Saint-Germain	6	3	2	1	13	8	+5	11			2–0	—	3–2	4–1
3	RB Leipzig	6	2	1	3	15	14	+1	7	Transfer to Europa League		2–1	2–2	—	1–2
4	Club Brugge	6	1	1	4	6	20	−14	4			1–5	1–1	0–5	—

Manchester City v RB Leipzig

15 September 2021 1	Manchester City	6–3	RB Leipzig	Manchester, England
21:00 BST (UTC+2)	Zinchenko  12' Aké  16' Mukiele  28' (o.g.) Mahrez  45+2' (pen.) Grealish  56' Cancelo  75' Gabriel Jesus  86'	Report	Nkunku  42', 51', 73' Klostermann  45+1' Adams  49' Angeliño  58'  79'	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 38,062 Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands)

Paris Saint-Germain v Manchester City

28 September 2021 2	Paris Saint-Germain	2–0	Manchester City	Paris, France
21:00 CET (UTC+2)	Gueye  8' Messi  74' Verratti  77'	Report	Cancelo  24' De Bruyne  39'	Stadium: Parc des Princes Attendance: 37,350 Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

Club Brugge v Manchester City

19 October 2021 3	Club Brugge	1–5	Manchester City	Bruges, Belgium
18:45 CEST (UTC+1)	Mata  24' Nsoki  45' Balanta  65' Vanaken  81'	Report	Cancelo  30' Laporte  32' Mahrez  43' (pen.), 84' Walker  53' Palmer  67'	Stadium: Jan Breydel Stadium Attendance: 24,915 Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

Manchester City v Club Brugge

3 November 2021 4	Manchester City	4–1	Club Brugge	Manchester, England
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Foden  15' Mahrez  54' Sterling  72' Gabriel Jesus  90+2'	Report	Stones  17' (o.g.)	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 50,228 Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Manchester City v Paris Saint-Germain

24 November 2021 5	Manchester City	2–1	Paris Saint-Germain	Manchester, England
20:00 GMT (UTC±0)	Rodri  55' Sterling  63' Gabriel Jesus  76',  90+3' Cancelo  80'	Report	Mbappé  50'	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 52,030 Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

RB Leipzig v Manchester City

7 December 2021 6	RB Leipzig	2–1	Manchester City	Leipzig, Germany
18:45 CEST (UTC+1)	Kampl  14' Szoboszlai  24' Silva  71' Adams  90+1'	Report	De Bruyne  30' Mahrez  76' Stones  81' Walker  82'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Referee: Sandro Schärer (Switzerland)

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 13 December 2021 at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon. An administration error led to a first draw being declared null and void after a series of errors, including some seeded teams being allowed into the draw with runners-up from their own qualification groups.[105][106] City had initially been drawn against Villareal. The draw was subsequently redone three hours later and City were drawn against Sporting Lisbon,[107] who they had last met and lost on away goals to, in the last 16 of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League.

Sporting CP v Manchester City

15 February 2022 First leg	Sporting CP	v	Manchester City	Lisbon, Portugal
21:00 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Estádio José Alvalade

Manchester City v Sporting CP

9 March 2022 Second leg	Manchester City	v	Sporting CP	Manchester, England
21:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Stadium: Etihad Stadium

Appearances (Apps.) numbers are for appearances in competitive games only including sub appearances
Red card numbers denote: Numbers in parentheses represent red cards overturned for wrongful dismissal.
Source for all stats:[108]

No.	Player	Pos.	Premier League				FA Cup				EFL Cup				Community Shield				Champions League				Total
			Apps				Apps				Apps				Apps				Apps				Apps
2	Kyle Walker	DF	12		1						1								5	1		1	18	1	1	1
3	Rúben Dias	DF	16	1	4										1		1		4				21	1	5
5	John Stones	DF	5	1							1								3		1		9	1	1
6	Nathan Aké	DF	6	1							1				1				3	1			11	2
7	Raheem Sterling	FW	14	4							2								6	2			22	6
8	İlkay Gündoğan	MF	12	3	1						1				1				5				19	3	1
9	Gabriel Jesus	FW	14	2							1								4	3	1		19	5	1
10	Jack Grealish	MF	13	2	1						1				1				5	1			20	3	1
11	Oleksandr Zinchenko	DF	5								1								4		1		10		1
13	Zack Steffen	GK	1								2				1				1				5
14	Aymeric Laporte	DF	13	1	5	1													3		1		16	1	6	1
16	Rodri	MF	14	3	3										1				5		1		21	2	4
17	Kevin De Bruyne	MF	11	4							2	1							5		2		18	5	2
20	Bernardo Silva	MF	16	7	3										1				5				22	7	3
21	Ferran Torres	FW	4	2							1	1			1				1				7	3
22	Benjamin Mendy	DF	1												1								2
25	Fernandinho	MF	9	1							1				1		1		3				14	1	1
26	Riyad Mahrez	FW	13	3							2	2			1				6	5			22	10
27	João Cancelo	DF	16		5						1				1				5	2	2		23	2	7
31	Ederson	GK	16		2														5				21		2
33	Scott Carson	GK
37	Kayky	FW
47	Phil Foden	MF	11	4							2	1							5	1			18	6
48	Liam Delap	FW
53	Samuel Edozie	FW													1								1
56	CJ Egan-Riley	DF									1												1
79	Luke Mbete	DF									1												1
80	Cole Palmer	MF	3								2	1			1				3	1			9	2
87	James McAtee	MF	1								1												2
90	Romeo Lavia	MF									1		1										1		1
94	Finley Burns	DF									1												1
96	Ben Knight	MF													1								1
97	Josh Wilson-Esbrand	DF									1												1
Own goals				2																1				3
Totals				40	25	1						6	1			0	2			18	9	1		64	37	2

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted alphabetically by surname when total goals are equal.[108]

Rank	No.	Pos.	Player	Premier League	FA Cup	EFL Cup	Community Shield	Champions League	Total
1	26	FW	Riyad Mahrez	3	0	2	0	5	10
2	20	MF	Bernardo Silva	7	0	0	0	0	7
3	7	FW	Raheem Sterling	4	0	0	0	2	6
	47	MF	Phil Foden	4	0	1	0	1	6
5	17	MF	Kevin De Bruyne	4	0	1	0	0	5
	9	FW	Gabriel Jesus	2	0	0	0	3	5
7	10	MF	Jack Grealish	2	0	0	0	1	3
	8	MF	İlkay Gündoğan	3	0	0	0	0	3
	21	FW	Ferran Torres	2	0	1	0	0	3
10	6	DF	Nathan Aké	1	0	0	0	1	2
	27	DF	João Cancelo	0	0	0	0	2	2
	80	MF	Cole Palmer	0	0	1	0	1	2
	16	MF	Rodri	2	0	0	0	0	2
14	3	DF	Ruben Dias	1	0	0	0	0	1
	25	MF	Fernandinho	1	0	0	0	0	1
	14	DF	Aymeric Laporte	1	0	0	0	0	1
	5	DF	John Stones	1	0	0	0	0	1
	2	DF	Kyle Walker	0	0	0	0	1	1
Own goals				2	0	0	0	1	3
Totals				40	0	6	0	18	64