Five in a row has taken on a different meaning for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola. It was supposed to signify their pursuit of an unprecedented fifth consecutive English title. Instead, the immediate significance comes from another historic first. Guardiola has lost five consecutive matches, his worst ever run bookended by reverses against Tottenham Hotspur.
If the first scarcely left City distraught, with Guardiola unworried by exiting the Carabao Cup, the latest was more emphatic, more dramatic, more chastening, more stunning. Guardiola’s joint heaviest defeat became an embarrassment. He risks being expelled from the title race. City could find themselves eight points behind Liverpool on Sunday, perhaps returning from Anfield next week 11 adrift. That, Guardiola conceded, would be too big a gap to bridge.
