Guardiola vows to guide his team out of its 'dark place'

Bernardo Silva admitted Manchester City is in a "dark place" after its shock 4-1 humiliation at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, but Pep Guardiola vowed to solve his stuttering side's problems.

Viktor Gyokeres' hat-trick, and a series of costly City misses, condemned Guardiola's men to three successive defeats for the first time since 2018.

Adding to City's misery was the sight of Sporting boss Ruben Amorim celebrating a remarkable victory in his final home game before leaving the Portuguese champion to take charge of Manchester United on Nov 11.

City's heaviest defeat since 2020 meant, for only the second time in the Guardiola era, it had suffered three consecutive losses in a single season.

After making a strong start, the Premier League champion was beaten by Tottenham in the League Cup last week, before losing at Bournemouth on Saturday in its first topflight defeat since December.

City's unexpected malaise comes amid a rash of injuries to key players including Rodri, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne, who was only fit enough for a brief appearance off the bench at the Jose Alvalade stadium.

It was a painful return to his hometown for Lisbon-born Silva, who conceded that City is mired in a damaging slump.

"It's disappointing because we're in bit of a dark place right now. Everything looks to be going in the wrong direction," he said.

"Even when we are playing well, we don't take our chances and we concede too easily.

"We need to get better very quickly, otherwise it will be very difficult to come back from these losses.

"It's difficult to find reasons for what is happening to us. It just looks like this team is going the wrong way now.

"Our injured players need to come back, because we need them and it's just not good enough tonight."

City's first defeat in four games in this season's Champions League should not be fatal to its European ambitions, but Guardiola cannot fail to be alarmed by the way his injury-riddled defense was run ragged after Phil Foden put City ahead in the fourth minute.

It didn't help that Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, a 19-year-old center-back called up due to City's fitness problems, endured a baptism of fire in his first City start.

Erling Haaland's profligate finishing was equally culpable, with the Norway striker hitting the bar from the penalty spot in the second half after missing several opportunities to increase City's advantage in the first.

"We had a fantastic first half, now we are struggling to score. We create and concede when the opponents don't do much," Guardiola said.

"At 2-1 down, many things can happen. Emotionally, we were not stable enough, and in this competition you have to be stable.

"Sporting made a good moment, they were fast and scored. It can happen."

Pressed on the reasons for City's collapse, Guardiola admitted its creaky defense and injury issues were taking a toll.

"Maybe. When you play lots of games you cannot play the same lineup and same back four. We have had these problems from day one, but it is what it is," he said.

"It is football. Maybe what we lived in the past is the exception. Sometimes you can lose. We were in the position where they punished us with the few chances they had, and we struggled with the chances we had."

City desperately needs to bounce back at Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.

It is second in the table — two points behind league leader Liverpool — as it chases a fifth successive title, but Guardiola insisted he can find an answer to City's problems.

"Now is a difficult moment in terms of results, but I want to be here. I want to fight and not give up," he said.

"As a manager, I like the challenge I have ahead of me."

AFP