Mateo Kovacic Discusses How Man City is Coping Without Rodri

Mateo Kovacic stated that Manchester City must adapt to life without Rodri after he scored twice in their tense 3-2 victory over Fulham on Saturday.

The Cityzens had to work hard for their three points at the Etihad Stadium, with Andreas Pereira putting Fulham ahead in the first half before Kovacic’s brace helped the hosts take the lead in the second half.

Jeremy Doku and Rodrigo Muniz also scored, rounding off the scoring, but the win keeps City just one point behind league leaders Liverpool and level with Arsenal, ahead in second due to a superior goal difference.

Rodri will be sidelined for the entire 2024/25 season after suffering a serious knee ligament injury last month, a significant setback for City’s quest for a fifth consecutive league title.

After the match, Kovacic commented: “I’m currently playing in the middle, and we need to cover for Rodri; we miss him a lot. Any team would miss a player like him. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope he returns in great shape.

“For now, we have to adapt, and the manager has plenty of options to rotate the squad. It was a tough game, as every match in the Premier League is. We dominated early but couldn’t score, then conceded a goal but quickly equalized. In the end, we won against a strong opponent, so it’s great for us to keep winning.”

Manager Pep Guardiola praised Kovacic, noting, “He is not a top goalscorer, but he may have seen how many goals Rodri scored from that position and copied him. He scored two fantastic goals.”

City’s next match after the October international break will be against Wolves, who are currently at the bottom of the table after seven matches.