Erling Haaland says Manchester City's players “still believe” in Pep Guardiola despite their recent dip in form.
Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers scored, while Phil Foden provided a late consolation, as City lost 2-1 to Aston Villa on Saturday.
It marked their ninth defeat in the space of twelve games in all competitions.
For the first time under Guardiola, City is winless in five consecutive away games in the Premier League (D1, L4). City last failed to win more such games in a row under Manuel Pellegrini in December 2015 (six).
For the third consecutive game, Haaland failed to find the back of the net and struggled for service at Villa Park, managing just one shot, which was off target, and one touch in the opponent's penalty area , which fell at the exact moment of death.
Asked about the team's confidence in Guardiola, Haaland told TNT Sports: “He won the Premier League six times in seven years, so we will never forget that.
“He will find the solutions. He does that every year. We still believe in him; we have to work harder now than ever.”
On City's dismal run, he added: “Of course we're disappointed, it's not good enough. It's not good enough from me.
'It's hard to come [to Villa Park] but we are Man City. We must continue; we have to believe in it, and we have to keep working hard.
“We have to keep going. First of all, I look at myself: I didn't do things well enough, I didn't score my chances. I have to do better; I haven't been good enough.”
“Naturally, [confidence is] not the best. We know how important trust is, and you can see that it affects every person. That's the way it is, we have to keep going and stay positive even though it is difficult.”
9 – Manchester City have lost 9 of their last 12 matches in all competitions (W1 D2). The last time other selected clubs had a run of 9 defeats in 12 games:
Chelsea – 25/05/2023Tottenham – 26/12/1997Arsenal – 23/03/1977Man Utd – 16/12/1961Liverpool – 23/01/1954
Unparalleled. pic.twitter.com/6Ls5Zw6poF
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 21, 2024
City's previous nine defeats in all competitions came in a run of 112 games, while only in 2019/20 (12) and 2016/17 (10) have a Guardiola side lost more games in a single season (nine in 2024/25).
This century, only Chelsea of the other so-called 'big six' teams in the Premier League has suffered a run of nine defeats in twelve games.
However, Guardiola appeared to take positives from City's latest defeat.
“We played a very good first half, but in the second half we let it go,” Guardiola told TNT Sports.
“We had good moments, we had chances, more chances than in the United match, but in the second half we dropped and our pressing wasn't good enough. We struggled a bit and couldn't drop them well. We felt eventually a goal, but too late.
“We are struggling to score and we are conceding goals.
“Step by step we have nice personalities in the team and sooner or later we will find them [confidence].”
He also suggested that it is up to him to change his tactical approach.
“I have to do it [change]and supporting my players, that's what will be different,” he said.
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