Pep Guardiola has moved to praise two of his players who were ‘incredible’ despite being a part of a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Sporting on Tuesday.
Manchester City fell to a third defeat in a row for the first time in over six years on Tuesday as they were destroyed 4-1 by Sporting in the Champions League.
It’s a result that will have Manchester United fans buzzing ahead of Sporting boss Ruben Amorim taking over at Old Trafford next Monday.
The manager gave his adoring Sporting fans a goodbye present to remember in his last game at the Alvalade Stadium.
City actually took the lead after four minutes through Phil Foden’s sweetly struck strike and, as hard as it is to believe, looked set for a comfortable victory as they dominated the first half.
There were warning signs, though, as Viktor Gyokeres twice got played through on goal and when it happened a third time in the 38th minute he finally found the back of the net.
Sporting then landed a devastating double blow after the break as Maximiliano Araujo scored the second before Gyokeres made it three from the penalty spot.
Pep Guardiola’s side fought back and should have scored from their own penalty but Erling Haaland smashed the crossbar. Gyokeres made no such mistake when he completed his hat trick with yet another one.
It was a humbling result as City’s troubles mount but Guardiola actually believes young defensive duo Rico Lewis and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey were ‘incredible’ in the game.
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Guardiola praises Lewis and Simpson-Pusey
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Guardiola complimented the two defenders, perhaps surprisingly given City were disorganised and porous all night long.
He said when assessing the result: “The first half was really, really good. From my point of view, we scored a goal and created a lot.
“But every pass, simple things, we miss sometimes. They can run, and they punished us a little bit. It can happen.
“After the third and the fourth, we have to avoid it.
“The young lad [Simpson-Pusey] played incredible. Rico as well. When you play a lot of games, you can’t play with the same line-up or the same back-four.
“All the season we’ve had problems from day one, but it is what it is.”
Did anyone play well in the Sporting disaster?
Understandably, Guardiola opted to focus on the few positives after such a terrible, potentially confidence-rocking, result.
An already tricky-looking match against Brighton at the weekend is suddenly looking a lot scarier with much more pressure on it to win. So positivity is everything right now.
Given it was just his first start, Simpson-Pusey did not disgrace himself one bit and even marshalled Gyokeres well to start with. But he was targeted as a weak link and naturally struggled as Sporting turned the screw.
Lewis was very good going forward and nearly clawed City back into it with some urgent passing. Yet, his extremely high positioning leaves the defence exposed and he isn’t quick enough to get back to help like Kyle Walker.
It’s not his fault, it’s on Guardiola, but City are not organised enough without Ruben Dias and not strong enough in the middle without Rodri to be leaving so few players back. Lewis must be reigned in.
Additionally, Phil Foden also played well with a promising display, especially in the first half, that saw him score highest in MCN’s player ratings.
