Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 7y

Pep Guardiola looking for answers amid Man City's recent slump

MANCHESTER -- Pep Guardiola says he will take his time to analyse why Manchester City are on such a bad run, after his side were beaten 1-0 by Manchester United in the EFL Cup.

The loss at the hands of Jose Mourinho's team makes it six matches without a victory after starting the season with 10 successive wins.

It's the worst run in Guardiola's managerial career as he made nine changes from the weekend with young Academy products Pablo Maffeo and Aleix Garcia coming into the side.

But Juan Mata's 54th minute strike was enough to condemn City to a third successive defeat away from home and knock them out of the competition.

Guardiola's side remain top of the Premier League after their great start to the season and the manager says his players now have to react against West Brom away on Saturday.

"Sometimes it happens in football the managers don't win. It is the first time, okay, hopefully it does not happen again but it is part of our profession, sometimes you win and sometimes lose," he told a news conference.

"The same as when we won 10 games in a row, every match is different -- I need to analyse them all.

"Every team has streaks of good results and bad results. The strange thing is that after seven years as a manager, it happens now.

"When you see the team, 11 players run and 11 players fight -- that is all. We have to start to win again and next Saturday we have our next chance."

Vincent Kompany was one of the two players to keep his place in the starting lineup but lasted only 45 minutes and was replaced by Aleksandar Kolarov at half-time.

The City captain has been dogged by persistent muscle injuries for the past two years but Guardiola said he was just suffering from fatigue.

"The important thing is after two years injured, he played three days ago 70 minutes, today 45 and no injuries, that is a good step -- the first step," the Spaniard added. "After we have to see. He felt not good, knowing what happened in the past."

Guardiola praised the performances of Garcia and Maffeo, who didn't look out of place in an intimidating Manchester derby and now wants them to push for starting places in all competitions.

"They have to win the chances to play the Premier League, the Champions League the FA Cup but what they showed me is they can fight," he added.

"Pablo fought with [Marcus] Rashford and in the last minutes with [Paul] Pogba and he was exceptional. That is why it is good for Man City, for the future."

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