The past week has been a step forward and a step back for Manchester City | OneFootball

There couldn’t be a bigger contrast in the past two performances that Manchester City have put in. In their 2-nil win over Newcastle United in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie, Pep Guardiola’s side did almost everything right to pick up a precious victory. It was arguably City’s best away performance of the season against Eddie Howe’s side. They followed that with what was their worst performance of the season in their 2-nil defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford yesterday. The contrasts couldn’t be any more stark in both performances, and it is a reminder that this City side is a team that remains in transition.

The contrast in the last two performances from Manchester City is hard to ignore.

It was hard to imagine Manchester City serving up what they did at Old Trafford yesterday, especially considering how well they played at St. James’ Park. It was expected that Manchester United, playing under Michael Carrick, would be fired up for the 198th Manchester derby. That was to be expected. Pep Guardiola’s side had to match United’s intensity to overcome Michael Carrick’s side. The disappointment was that City never came close to it. They were as passive as they had been for some time, and nothing they tried worked out. It did appear that City were rattled by Manchester United’s intensity from the start, and they never recovered. City had a lot of possession at Old Trafford, but it never amounted to anything. They seemed devoid of ideas throughout yesterday’s match, and they got the result they deserved come the final whistle.

Against Newcastle United, Manchester City were up for the fight and they matched Newcastle’s intensity. City took the crowd out of the Carabao Cup semi-final tie and got their reward with a 2-nil win. There was none of that yesterday and the way Manchester City performed was head scratching to say the least.

This is a Manchester City team in transition but that doesn’t excuse yesterday’s performance.

Pep Guardiola’s side is a team in transition as the rebuild of this Manchester City side continues. They are also in the midst of an injury crisis with a host of players unavailable due to injury. But all of that doesn’t excuse Manchester City’s performance against Manchester United. City were listless, devoid of energy and ideas and they paid the price for that as they fell to a costly defeat at Old Trafford.

Pep Guardiola acknowledged after his team’s defeat that his team was out worked and lacked energy in comparison to Manchester United. He added that his team must learn a harsh lesson from their derby defeat. Speaking after the match, Pep Guardiola said: “They were the better team. They had something we did not have. I’ve come many times here. But today we were not the level required to win these types of games. We had that energy four days ago against Newcastle but not today.”

“It was not a bad performance. We didn’t get the result. It happens. It was a football game and they were better.”

“They have a new manager, and they had the energy in a derby that we didn’t have.”

“We’ve changed a lot of players in the last two transfer windows, and we need to live it.”

The contrast in Manchester City’s past two performances against Newcastle United and Manchester United stood out at Old Trafford. The energy that was a key element in Manchester City’s win at St. James’ Park was lacking yesterday. There was no excuse for Manchester City’s performance yesterday, and it was easily Manchester City’s most disappointing display of the entire season.