Agitated and animated, Guardiola looked on edge even after City led the Manchester derby through Josko Gvardiol’s 36th-minute header, his reaction to the goal one of almost disdain that it came via a deflected cross as opposed to in his purist style. Sitting alone sipping from a water bottle before the resumption of the second half, he was then denied even the respite of victory when Manchester United gave this largely dismal derby a dramatic conclusion it barely deserved with a remarkable late comeback.
Matheus Nunes committed the first error by presenting Amad Diallo with the ball, with 88 minutes on the clock, before compounding his error by flattening the forward as he made an attempt to undo his mistake. Bruno Fernandes promptly completed the formalities from the penalty spot.
It became worse two minutes later when Lisandro Martinez’s routine long ball caught City’s defense with their pants at their ankles, and, with goalkeeper Ederson’s positioning awry, allowed the lively Diallo to pounce from an acute angle to leave Guardiola and his players stunned.
Guardiola delivered a brutal self-analysis as he told Match of the Day: “I am not good enough. I am the boss. I am the manager. I have to find solutions and so far I haven’t. That’s the reality.
“Not much else to say. No defense. Manchester United were incredibly persistent. We have not lost eight games in two seasons. We can’t defend that.”
Guardiola suggested that serious renewal will wait until the summer, insisting City must “survive” this season – whatever it is that qualifies as survival for a club of such rich ambition – but the quest for a record fifth successive Premier League title is surely over as they lie nine points behind leaders Liverpool, having played a game more.
Their Champions League aspirations are also in jeopardy after another loss, this time against Juventus in Turin. City’s squad has been allowed to grow too old together. The manner in which United were able, and felt able, to snatch this victory drove right to the heart of how City, and Guardiola, are allowing opponents to prey on their downfall.
Although Guardiola has every reason to cite injuries, this cannot be used an excuse for such a dramatic decline in standards, allied to the appearance of a soft underbelly that is so easily exploited.
City’s rebuild will not be a quick fix as with every performance and every defeat, the scale of what lies in front of Guardiola becomes more obvious and daunting. The finances will be there but City’s challengers will in the meantime also be strengthening.
Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan are all coincidentally already 34 years old and, noticeably, already beginning to run out of steam on the pitch.
Previously reliable performers are also failing to hit previous standards. Phil Foden scored 27 goals and had 12 assists when he was Premier League Player of the Season last term but could only manage just three goals and two assists in 18 appearances in all competitions this season, with no goals and just one assist in 11 Premier League games. Jack Grealish, who came on after 77 minutes against United, has not scored in a year for Manchester City, his last goal coming in a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace on 16 December last year. He has, in the meantime, scored twice for England.
While City lack creativity and cutting edge, the great Erling Haaland is also struggling with only three goals in his past 11 Premier League games after scoring 10 in his first five. And in another indication of City’s impotence, and their reliance on Haaland, defender Gvardiol’s goal against United was his fourth this season, making him their second highest scorer in all competitions behind the Norwegian striker, who has 18.
The ever-stolid Ederson, a fortress of reliability for so long, has already been dropped once this season and did not cover himself in glory for United’s winner. Guardiola – with the pressure of that freshly signed two-year contract bearing down on him – insists he “wants it” as he treads on this alien territory of failure, albeit he will be under no illusions about the size of the job in front of him as he placed his head in his hands in anguish after yet another damaging and deeply revealing defeat.
City and Guardiola are in a new, unforgiving wasteland that forebodes new perils and uncertainties.