Pep Guardiola's Manchester City win over Fulham left him 'shaken', not stirred - by joy. The 5-4 victory moved the Premier League leaders into a two-point gap between themselves and Arsenal, but for the normally composed manager, it was a struggle to savor the sweet taste of success.
Guardiola confessed that enjoying the match was "impossible" due to his team's perilous situation at one point. With a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 lead, Manchester City found themselves staring into the abyss after Fulham staged an astonishing comeback in the final 21 minutes. The on-loan Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze was the mastermind behind this remarkable turnaround, scoring not one but two goals to leave Guardiola's team clinging to their lives.
The manager's frustration boiled over as he reflected on his side's defensive woes. "Did you enjoy it? I lost my hair," he quipped wryly. It wasn't just a loss of hair that had him at his wit's end, though - it was the complete collapse of his team's discipline and focus that left him shell-shocked.
When asked to pinpoint what went wrong, Guardiola remained characteristically coy, deferring to the inherent unpredictability of football. "Football is emotion – all the goals were bad defending," he acknowledged, before opting for a more philosophical stance: "We go so deep to defend these kinds of crosses, we have to occupy the spaces a bit better."
However, one player who didn't need any explaining was Erling Haaland, Manchester City's prolific goal-scorer. Guardiola lavished praise on his striker, who became the fastest player in Premier League history to reach 100 goals. "For people up front it's a question of numbers, and his numbers have no discussion," he gushed.
Haaland himself seemed unfazed by the dramatic turn of events that had left his team clinging to a precarious lead. While Marco Silva, Fulham's manager, showed admirable character in the face of adversity, Guardiola couldn't help but feel a twinge of concern about his team's ability to see out a match they should have had well and truly wrapped up.
As for the Manchester City manager, he will surely be taking some time to collect himself before moving on to the next challenge. For now, it seems that Guardiola's joy has been muted by the memory of Fulham's heroic comeback - an experience he describes as "impossible" to enjoy.
Guardiola confessed that enjoying the match was "impossible" due to his team's perilous situation at one point. With a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 lead, Manchester City found themselves staring into the abyss after Fulham staged an astonishing comeback in the final 21 minutes. The on-loan Nigeria international Samuel Chukwueze was the mastermind behind this remarkable turnaround, scoring not one but two goals to leave Guardiola's team clinging to their lives.
The manager's frustration boiled over as he reflected on his side's defensive woes. "Did you enjoy it? I lost my hair," he quipped wryly. It wasn't just a loss of hair that had him at his wit's end, though - it was the complete collapse of his team's discipline and focus that left him shell-shocked.
When asked to pinpoint what went wrong, Guardiola remained characteristically coy, deferring to the inherent unpredictability of football. "Football is emotion – all the goals were bad defending," he acknowledged, before opting for a more philosophical stance: "We go so deep to defend these kinds of crosses, we have to occupy the spaces a bit better."
However, one player who didn't need any explaining was Erling Haaland, Manchester City's prolific goal-scorer. Guardiola lavished praise on his striker, who became the fastest player in Premier League history to reach 100 goals. "For people up front it's a question of numbers, and his numbers have no discussion," he gushed.
Haaland himself seemed unfazed by the dramatic turn of events that had left his team clinging to a precarious lead. While Marco Silva, Fulham's manager, showed admirable character in the face of adversity, Guardiola couldn't help but feel a twinge of concern about his team's ability to see out a match they should have had well and truly wrapped up.
As for the Manchester City manager, he will surely be taking some time to collect himself before moving on to the next challenge. For now, it seems that Guardiola's joy has been muted by the memory of Fulham's heroic comeback - an experience he describes as "impossible" to enjoy.
pep guardiola is literally one of the most composed ppl in sports and for him to be all shook up after that match is just crazy 
5-1 lead turned into a nightmare in 21 mins? that's just insane! anyway, i think the main issue was the defensive line 
they were too soft in their positioning and fulham just exploited it. also, pep needs to work on his post-game intros 
"i lost my hair" lol but seriously though, he should give a more detailed analysis of what went wrong. erling haaland is still on fire tho 
100 goals in the premier league in such a short time is just insane! 
100 goals in like what, record time? 
guess how frustrating it must be to have a team give you 5 goals and still not get the win 
but what really gets me is that it shows his team isn't invincible yet 
he's always talking about building the right culture, but this highlights they're still working on their defensive side 
100 goals and counting! Pep knows his player and isn't afraid to give him some serious props. Marco Silva from fulham should totes be commended for holding it down in the face of adversity too 
! And Haaland is on fire 
, 100 goals in no time? No discussion 
.
. But what's really got me thinking is how teams can go from a dominant performance to complete collapse 
.
. But hey, at least we got some great drama out of it 
. I mean, who hasn't felt like they're just holding on for dear life at some point in a match? The fact that Manchester City was down 5-1 and managed to come back from it shows how unpredictable football can be. I'm not surprised Guardiola was frustrated - it's hard to enjoy the win when your team is putting in such sloppy performances defensively 
. On the other hand, Erling Haaland's goal-scoring record is insane! The guy's a phenom 
.
.
. He'll bounce back from this, and his team will learn from their mistakes