Guardiola: City needed to break losing habit

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City had to break the habit of losing after finally snapping a seven-game winless streak by beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Wednesday.

The English champion's barren run included six defeats, the worst run of Guardiola's managerial career.

However, victory came at a cost, as defenders Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji had to be replaced due to injuries.

"We needed it. The club, the players needed to win, but it is just one game," said Guardiola.

"The problems continue with Manu and Nathan.

"In general, the most important thing was to break this routine of not winning games and, finally, we won, but we have to continue."

Injury woes have been at the heart of City's struggles in recent months, with Ballon d'Or winner Rodri out for the season due to a serious knee problem.

Kevin De Bruyne's return to the starting lineup for the first time in nearly three months showed what City has been missing, as he helped restore order for Guardiola's men.

The Belgian teed up Bernardo Silva for an early opener and then fired home himself to double City's lead.

Jeremy Doku rounded off the scoring in the second half, as the home side did not suffer a repeat of last week's Champions League collapse from 3-0 up to draw 3-3 against Feyenoord.

Guardiola dismissed suggestions before the game that there had been a rift with De Bruyne, as he has been carefully managed back from injury problems.

"Last season he was many months (out injured), and this season as well. I'm so happy he's back," added Guardiola.

"He fought a lot. In respect to his physicality and minutes against Feyenoord, it was not good, and that's why I decided not to play him at Anfield for the rhythm they play.

"But the minutes he played at Anfield were really good, and today, he played 75 fantastic minutes."

Neither Akanji or Ake are expected to be fit to face Crystal Palace on Saturday, but Phil Foden could return after missing the Forest match due to bronchitis.

"Nathan doesn't look good. We will see tomorrow," Guardiola said. "He could not continue, and we will see in three days what will happen. I am sad for Nathan."

Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said City was definitely more dangerous with De Bruyne on the pitch. "It's very difficult (to stop De Bruyne), very difficult because of the quality," he said, "And it's not only Kevin de Bruyne, their quality all over the pitch, in the wide areas, it's very difficult to, individually, control these kinds of players.

"No one ever doubts the quality of City's players and their manager, so we know that we had a hard task ahead of us. But, honestly, we went for it. We lose, okay, that can happen in football, but we challenged ourselves, and that can reflect on the next games, I hope."

AFP