MANCHESTER, NOV 24 – Pep Guardiola admits that Manchester City are in an unprecedented situation after a massive 4-0 defeat to Tottenham which marked the English champions’ fifth successive defeat and ended their 52-game unbeaten run at home.
James Maddison scored twice in the space of seven first-half minutes before Pedro Porro added to the wounds against his former club, followed by Brennan Johnson who completed the rout.
City’s first home defeat from an open game since before the 2022 World Cup leaves them five points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand against bottom-of-the-table Southampton today.
Guardiola is determined to turn around the worst run of his managerial career after renewing his contract until 2027 this week.
But hopes that the new deal could inject new life into City’s squad, which has won an unprecedented four Premier League titles in a row, have been dashed.
“In eight years, we have never experienced a situation like this,” said Guardiola, who joined the club in 2016.
“Now we have to face this situation and break this bad record by winning the next game, especially the next one. Maybe now we see the situation from one point of view, but in a few weeks, that point of view may change,” said Guardiola.
Rodri presented the Ballon d’Or trophy to the home fans before kick-off, as his name was lit up on the Etihad pitch in a flamboyant show of support for the Spain midfielder. – AFP
