Manchester City suffered their third defeat in a row as they conceded three goals in the second half against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday night.
Bernardo Silva spoke out after the 4-1 loss in Portugal to say that the team is in a “dark place” at the moment but, responding in a post-match interview, Guardiola disputed those remarks and vowed that his team would fight on:
“I don’t agree with him. We are not in the dark side. We played really bad against Bournemouth but really good here. The only regret is conceding the third and fourth – the penalties were not necessary.”
“We knew it would be a tough season at the start and this is what it is. I like it, I love it, I want to face it and lift my players. Life is like this. We continue. What should we do? We go back to Manchester and prepare for the game at Brighton. I won’t give up, that’s for sure.”
The stats back Guardiola up
Despite the scoreline, City were much the better side for the majority of the game and they could have been out of sight in the first half if they had made the most of their opportunities.
Across the 90 minutes, they had 20 shots (compared to Sporting’s 9), and they had 73% of the ball. Guardiola’s side were ultimately let down by their defending, conceding on the counter-attack and giving away two needless penalties.
If we remove the two spot kicks from the xG totals, it would leave Sporting on 1.49 and City on 2.23, which suggests the away team could have secured a narrow victory on another day.
City need to get back on the horse
It should be pointed out that the Cityzens had a similar run of results last season too. They didn’t lose three in a row, but they lost three domestic fixtures against Newcastle, Wolves and Arsenal in quick succession in late September/early October with that run only broken up by a win against RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
For that reason, Guardiola is right to keep a level head. With league fixtures against Tottenham and top-of-the-table Liverpool coming shortly after the next international break, it is important to put things right before then against Brighton on Saturday.
Find out who is in Manchester City’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here
