Pep Guardiola says he is relishing the challenge of turning Manchester City's fortunes around after they suffered their third straight defeat in all competitions, a 4-1 thrashing at Sporting in the UEFA Champions League.
Phil Foden fired City ahead after four minutes, but Viktor Gyokeres levelled late in the first half before Sporting added three further goals from Maximiliano Araujo and Gyokeres, who completed his hat-trick.
It is the first time since April 2018 that Man City have lost three consecutive matches, after their defeats to Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup, AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League and now Sporting.
To compound their misery, striker Erling Haaland blasted a second-half penalty against the crossbar as incoming Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim's Sporting side moved above City in the Champions League table.
"Now is the difficult moment in terms of results but I want to be here," Guardiola told TNT Sports afterwards.
"I want to fight and not give up. I like this challenge as a manager I have ahead of me. Who wants to follow us will be there.
“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 for the few they do and we struggled for the chances we had.
“The first half was almost enough to finish the game and then we were losing 3-1."
City fall to Champions League defeat at Sporting CP
This defeat was City’s heaviest since Leicester City won 5-2 at the Etihad Stadium in September 2020, and was only the second time that they have been beaten in three consecutive matches in a single season under Guardiola.
"It's disappointing because we're a bit in a dark place right now and everything looks to be going in the wrong way," midfielder Bernardo Silva told TNT Sports. "Even when we play well, we don't score our chances, and we concede too easily.
"Definitely we need to look inside and check what we're not doing well and start being better very quickly. Otherwise it will be difficult to come back from these losses."
Guardiola echoed Bernardo's assessment of his side's struggles.
"Now we are struggling to score," the manager added. "We create, and concede when the opponents don’t do much. The first half was really good. We scored a goal, but every pass, the simple things we missed sometimes.
“It can happen. After the third and the fourth we have to avoid it. Emotionally we were not stable enough and in this competition you have to be stable. At 2-1, many things can happen."
Guardiola, who handed teenage defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey a full debut on Tuesday night, returns to Premier League action on Saturday when Man City face a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion.
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