The second half of the match didn't see much change from the first half.
Despite Guardiola emphasizing the importance of wide crosses during halftime, it had little effect.
Mainly, Sterling on the left wing still hadn't changed his ways; he would either dribble the ball himself, only to run into a cluster of Sunderland defenders and lose possession, or he would dribble a few steps and then cut inside for a wild shot, essentially clearing the ball for Sunderland.
The situation on the right wing wasn't much better.
Although De Bruyne's tactical execution was clearly much stronger, he often overlapped and combined with teammates, and would also drop back to midfield to receive the ball, Sunderland's defensive restrictions on him clearly increased by a notch.
This often made De Bruyne's crosses rushed, and their accuracy suffered.
Moreover, even if he did cross, with at least two tall center-backs marking Aguero in the box, Manchester City's attacks often came to nothing.
Adding to that, Sunderland's pressing and running seemed to become even more aggressive in the second half, making Manchester City's midfield operations somewhat disjointed, and even normal possession-based progression became extremely difficult.
Both sides fell into a stalemate, and Manchester City found it hard to create any decent scoring opportunities.
As the dull match progressed to the 70th minute, Zhao Zhao stood up.
This was almost the first time Zhao Zhao had stood up from the coaching bench all game!
This, of course, caught the attention of the camera lenses.
"Oh, 'The Calm One' is finally going to make a move!" James Jun said.
"To be honest, with Sunderland playing like this, I really don't know how Coach Zhao can remain so composed…"
"As an observer, I'm already a bit breathless, but Coach Zhao isn't flustered at all, he hasn't even stood on the sidelines to direct.
"Now, is he finally going to make a change!"
Indeed, after Zhao Zhao stood up, he called over Januzaj, preparing for a substitution.
This was something he had planned early on.
Sunderland's left flank had been constantly facing the impact from Manchester City's right, leading to high consumption.
Borini, playing on the left today, is a fighter-type winger, and he had expended a lot of energy in the endless struggle.
So, this was a like-for-like substitution.
Bringing on Januzaj for Borini could maintain the left-wing pressing while further enhancing counter-attacking ability!
The opposing full-back Navas was already nearly 32 years old, and after more than 70 minutes of intense battle, his stamina had severely declined, and his dribbling and passing were no longer as fluid as at the start of the match.
Therefore, Zhao Zhao chose to make a substitution at this point to seize opportunities from the opponent's mistakes when Manchester City's control declined, and then deliver a fatal blow to Manchester City!
And Januzaj, now full of energy, could utilize his strong dribbling ability.
This was also why Zhao Zhao didn't start Januzaj today, but kept him as a trump card.
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While Sunderland was making their substitution, Guardiola was also deep in thought.
He had, of course, been observing Zhao Zhao's every move!
Mainly, Zhao Zhao's tactics today were simply too unique, which made Guardiola have to be wary.
He even thought of his old rival, the 'Special One', Mourinho.
In their many encounters, Mourinho often used defensive counter-attacking tactics to deal with Guardiola's tiki-taka.
A typical example was when both were in La Liga, Real Madrid's quick counter-attacks had indeed caused Barça some trouble.
However, Sunderland's level today was, of course, incomparable to Real Madrid, and Zhao Zhao's defensive tactics seemed even more thorough; apart from a few sporadic individual breakthroughs, they hadn't posed any threat to Manchester City's goal at all.
Guardiola feared that Zhao Zhao was using such tactics to first tie down Manchester City, and then, when Manchester City felt fatigued, suddenly change formation and launch an all-out attack!
It was somewhat similar to what Sunderland did against Middlesbrough in the second half.
"But it seems now that Zhao Zhao might genuinely only want to get a point from us." Guardiola saw that Sunderland's substitutions were all like-for-like, and immediately felt relieved.
Since their formation hadn't changed, and the attacking personnel remained limited, there was indeed no need to worry too much.
This also showed that Zhao Zhao was very pragmatic.
Just like all other weaker teams that come to Etihad, they only wanted to secure a draw and take one point home!
For a relegation-threatened team like Sunderland, a point was very crucial, especially one snatched from a strong team away from home.
But Guardiola would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.
For Manchester City, three points were crucial.
Moreover, this was Etihad, and if Manchester City couldn't score, the fans wouldn't be satisfied.
So, shortly after Sunderland's substitution, Guardiola also began to deploy his troops.
He first replaced the ineffective Sterling with the young German Sane, and then brought on center-back Stones for left-back Kolarov!
Manchester City's on-field player positions also changed accordingly.
Stones played as a center-back, while Navas on the right was pushed up to the winger position, and De Bruyne tucked in as an attacking midfielder, finally forming a 3-2-4-1 formation.
This adjustment was equivalent to further strengthening the attacking firepower!
Sane, David Silva, De Bruyne, Navas in the front, and striker Aguero, five arrows unleashed!
Guardiola hoped that his team could go all out in the final ten-plus minutes, strive to score, and thus secure a home victory!
Although not much time was left, Guardiola was still confident in achieving this goal.
He had so many star players under him; as long as one of them suddenly exploded, it could change the final outcome of the match!
Not just Guardiola, but many fans at the stadium, fans in front of their televisions, including the media and TV commentators, had similar thoughts.
In the final moments of the match, the exhausted Sunderland players would likely find it difficult to run and defend with full effort.
If there were problems with their running, then defensive loopholes would inevitably appear.
And at that moment, it would be Manchester City's time to score!
In fact, Guardiola's teams often managed to score in the final moments of matches, whether it was Barça, Bayern, or now Manchester City, it was always the case.
This was because many teams chose to defend stubbornly against Guardiola, but often collapsed physically as the match neared its end, ultimately failing at the last hurdle.
"This 3-2-4-1 formation from Guardiola, I'm seeing it for the first time. But I have to admit, such a formation really increases the attacking power a lot!"
"So, can Sunderland really withstand Manchester City's relentless waves of attack?"
"Currently, Coach Zhao seems as calm as ever, as if what's happening before him has nothing to do with him."
"He feels like he's just playing a game… unaffected by external things, unburdened by personal sorrow."
"Well, even when I'm playing a football game at home, I feel much more nervous than he does right now!"