Manchester City fell to a humbling 4-1 defeat in the Champions League against Sporting CP on Tuesday.
Manchester City went into the game having lost back-to-back games and needed to respond.
Pep Guardiola’s side got off to a great start thanks to an early goal by Phil Foden. But then, after a number of chances were spurned, things went south.
Viktor Gyokeres levelled for the hosts, and then City collapsed defensively in the second-half.
City conceded in the first 20 seconds of the restart to Max Araujo, before Josko Gvardiol made a clumsy foul in the area to concede a penalty.
Matheus Nunes then made a clumsy foul himself for another Sporting penalty, allowing Gyokeres to complete his hat-trick.
After the game, Bernardo Silva admitted Man City were in a bit of a dark place right now, but Guardiola didn’t quite see it that way.
Guardiola disagrees with Bernardo Silva ‘dark place’ view as he drops Sporting verdict
Speaking straight after the chastening 4-1 defeat, Bernardo Silva suggested that Manchester City are in a bit of a dark place.
The £43 million Portuguese star was the captain last night, and did not shy away from City’s alarming situation, and said that the squad would be looking to rectify things.
But Guardiola rejected the notion that the squad is in a ‘dark place’.
He said shortly after (via journalist Simon Bajkowski): “We played really bad against Bournemouth and really good today. The only regret is conceding the third and fourth.”
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Fine margins
Guardiola’s assessment will likely not be shared by some City fans.
The bottom line is City conceded four goals in a game, surely cannot mean City played ‘really good’.
That said, last night’s final scoreline of 4-1 was very avoidable had City been more clinical. In the first-half, there were a number of good chances for City to put some daylight between themselves and Sporting.
Haaland then had the chance to get it back to 3-2, but missed his penalty. Had that gone in, there might have been a few nerves from Sporting.
| Sporting CP | Man City |
| Goals – 4 | Goals – 1 |
| Shots – 9 | Shots – 20 |
| Shots on target – 6 | Shots on target – 6 |
| Possession – 27% | Possession – 73% |
| Completed passes – 228 | Completed passes – 596 |
| Fouls – 8 | Fouls – 10 |
But certainly, it is a concerning moment.
City have lost three games in a row for the first time since 2018 and in truth, there could have been more defeats before the one against Tottenham Hotspur last week.
Guardiola has plenty to sort out right now, and hopefully, he can mastermind a win against Brighton this weekend to settle things down before the international break
