After years of dominance, Manchester City lost five straight games under manager Pep Guardiola for the first time in history.
Prior to this losing streak, they held top spot in the Premier League, and were top five in the Champions League standings. Now the club sits second by eight points in the EPL, holds 10th place in the UCL standings, and is knocked out of the Carabao Cup.
The last time the club has lost five matches in a row was in 2006, before the financial takeover by Sheikh Mansour.
Before this streak, the club seemed to be keeping their consistency, having lost no games in the season so far, and keeping their hopes up for a fifth title in a row. The beginning of the streak started with a 2-1 loss against Tottenham Hotspur, leaving City’s Carabao Cup hopes in the dust with a round of 16 knockout. The next match was a surprising loss to 11th place Bournemouth, the 2-1 loss dropped Man City to second place under Liverpool, and gave Bournemouth their first win against Man City in the club’s history.
The third match of the streak was a 4-1 thrashing from an unbeaten Sporting CP, who holds first place in Liga Portugal by 14 points. This match featured a Viktor Gyokeres hat-trick, as the striker continued his incredible form, currently on 23 goals in 17 games, he helped drop City to 10th in the UCL standings with this performance. The fourth game was a close comeback by a 9th place Brighton and Hove Albion, and with two late goals in the last 15 minutes, they forced a 2-1 City loss to continue the streak.
The final match in this historic run of games was another loss to Tottenham Hotspur; this time it was a shocking Premier League defeat of 4-0 to City. This match is the first time consistent coach Guardiola has ever lost by four or more goals in his entire managerial career, making this losing streak even more shocking as City hopes to bounce back in their next fixture being against Feyenoord in the UCL.
Though the last few games have been rough for the team, Guardiola believes in his players. “I trust these players more than ever,” he said.
The injuries the squad has faced need to be mentioned, as they are missing the crucial Ballon D’or-winning midfielder Rodri, who could be out until the start of the new year. The team is also missing starting center-back Ruben Dias, and young talent Jeremy Doku. Even with all of these injuries, the team will try to gain back their consistency in their next Premier League game, which is a highly important title-race match with Liverpool. This game could either cut the deficit to five points, or increase Liverpool’s lead to eleven points at the top. Either way, the squad will have to push through and hope to get back to winning.
