Pep Guardiola has declared Manchester City's dramatic 5-4 victory over Fulham is now "forgotten," but insists his squad must absorb crucial defensive lessons from their midweek scare.
A Nervy Finish at Craven Cottage
The Premier League champions appeared to be cruising to a comfortable win at Craven Cottage on Tuesday, leading 5-1 with almost an hour played. However, a remarkable Fulham fightback saw City clinging on for a narrow 5-4 victory by the final whistle.
This followed a similar pattern from their previous match, where they withstood a Leeds United resurgence to secure a 3-2 win. The consecutive shaky performances have prompted questions about City's resilience in their title pursuit behind leaders Arsenal.
Guardiola's Call for Defensive Focus
"It's forgotten. Good learnings, hopefully, but it's forgotten," stated Guardiola in his pre-match press conference. "In the Premier League, in modern football, you have to learn from what happens in the good things and bad things and think of the next one."
The City boss admitted clear concern over his team's recent vulnerability. "Of course I'm concerned. We try to understand what happened, to not concede the goals," he said.
He highlighted a worrying trend in conversion rates against his side: "How many shots on target had Leeds? Three? Scored two. How many shots on target Fulham? Five, six? So, the average of shots conceded we can see is high. We have to improve."
Preparing for the Sunderland Challenge
City's immediate focus shifts to Saturday's home fixture against newly-promoted Sunderland. The Black Cats, sitting a impressive sixth in the table and just five points behind City, earned a commendable 1-1 draw at champions Liverpool on Wednesday.
Guardiola was full of praise for the opposition, dismissing any notion of their position being a fluke. "All I can say is, in my humble opinion, they deserve to be where they are," he asserted. "When you play after you're promoted three, four, five games, OK, momentum – but after 14 fixtures in this Premier League, with these opponents, they deserve it."
He added: "There are four, five or six concepts they do and they do all of them well. Otherwise, they would not be who they are. In this league, impossible. So, it's a good challenge for us."
Team News and Injury Update
City will again be without midfield linchpin Rodri, who remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. The Spanish international, last year's Ballon d'Or winner, has managed just one minute of action in City's last 11 games and is also a doubt for next week's Champions League trip to Real Madrid.
Guardiola also addressed the situation of summer signing Rayan Ait-Nouri, who has found first-team opportunities limited. "Rayan played in the Club World Cup really good. He played in pre-season, he played the first game against Wolves and the second game against the Spurs," explained the manager. "After that he was injured and Nico O'Reilly performed really well. That's the only reason. No more than that."
