Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 9y

Pablo Zabaleta: Man City must analyse poor form after United derby defeat

Pablo Zabaleta admitted Manchester City need to have an inquest into their slump in form and must be brutally honest about their shortcomings.

The Premier League champions suffered their sixth defeat in eight games when they lost 4-2 to city rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

And right-back Zabaleta accepted City now face a fight to finish in the top four as he said they need a meeting to address their problems.

"It is time to analyse what we are doing wrong and try to improve for the next few games," he told BBC Radio Manchester. "There are still 18 points to play for and we must be honest with ourselves and start to push hard, play better and win games, so we can get in the top four."

City, who were level on points with Chelsea on New Year's Day, are now 12 points behind Jose Mourinho's team and, having spent much of the season in the top two, find themselves in fourth.

They had won their previous four Manchester derbies and took the lead at Old Trafford through Sergio Aguero, only to concede four times.

"When you lose those games it is always really hard," the 30-year-old continued. "But that is football sometimes. Football is about momentum and when you lose games it is really hard.

"Sometime, probably another moment, we should have won that game. But it seems you lose confidence when you cannot get results and today was a really tough afternoon.

"We need to think about the next game. We still have games to play and we know we need to finish in the top four."

Defeat left City four points behind United but winger Jesus Navas believes they have a chance to close the gap on Louis van Gaal's side, who face Chelsea next.

"We have two home games now and we need to win six points and I think we will be able to be closer to them," he told the club's official website. "It's Champions League so we have to fight until the end to be in the top four."

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