Pep Guardiola said Manchester City are in a "fragile" period after a 4-0 drubbing at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday condemned them to a third Premier League defeat in a row and five points off the title race.
City had early chances to break the deadlock but came up against an inspired Guglielmo Vicario in goal for the visitors, while Spurs were ruthless.
James Maddison, celebrating his 28th birthday, turned in a man-of-the-match performance with two first-half strikes with Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson adding the extras in the second period.
It was City's fifth straight defeat across competitions and brought to a halt a 52-match unbeaten home record for Guardiola's side.
League leaders Liverpool can inflict more misery on Sunday when they travel to face basement club Southampton, with City facing a daunting trip to Anfield next Sunday.
If Liverpool beat Southampton and City, they will be 11 points ahead of Guardiola's men.
Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola only this week signed a two-year contract extension until 2027.
But hopes that would bring the positivity needed to turn City's fortunes around proved short-lived.
"In eight years we have never lived this kind of situation," said Guardiola, whose side face Feyenoord in the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday.
"Now we have to live it and break it winning the next games, especially the next one. Now we see things in one way, maybe in a few weeks we see it differently."
The loss of Rodri to a season's ending knee injury has been a hammer blow to City's title defence and the Spaniard's absence on the pitch was keenly felt at the Etihad Stadium.
The Ballon d'Or winner could only watch on in horror as City were exposed by the pace and energy of Pape Matar Sarr and Maddison in midfield.
Maddison opened the scoring with Spurs' first attack, ghosting beyond Ilkay Gundogan with a surging run into the City box to slot home Dejan Kulusevski's inviting cross.
Maddison was celebrating again on 20 minutes when he exchanged passed with Spurs captain Son Heung-min and dinked a delightful finish over the advancing Ederson to make it 2-0.
A Spurs counterattack on 52 minutes saw Kulusevski release Dominic Solanke before the England striker cut the ball back for Porro to smash home in the right corner.
Timo Werner then teed up fellow substitute Johnson to slide in Tottenham's fourth goal to put the icing on a clinical performance for the North London club.
It was a chastening experience for Guardiola's side, who have rewritten the record books of English football in recent years by winning four consecutive Premier League titles.
But he recognised that they are stuck in a negative mental spiral after a series of unexpected defeats.
"We are a bit fragile right now, that is obvious for the fact that we struggled today to score goals. And after when they arrived, they scored," he added.
"We are playing a little bit in our thoughts, with a little bit of negativity, but it's normal. Football is a sense of mood. And when you win a lot, there's continuity that gives us self-confidence that you can do it.
"When you lose three games in a row in the Premier League, that situation is always a little bit there."
City defender Kyle Walker said it was vital the team went "back to the basics and got a clean sheet".
He added: "If we concede four goals at home we have to score five. It's not just the back four, five or six – it's all 11 players on the pitch."
Postecoglou challenges players
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou challenged his players to maintain the standards set in Saturday’s stunning win at City having doubled down on their football principles in style.
Spurs went into the international break on the back of a chastening 2-1 home loss to promoted Ipswich Town but returned from it with a jaw-dropping 4-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
“You don’t come to a place like this thinking that it’s going to be probably as convincing as it was for us in terms of the way we handled [things],” Postecoglou said.
“Look, I’ve said before, City test you in every football way possible. You’ve got to do a bit of everything – you’ve got to defend, you’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to be disciplined, then you’ve got to play football.
“I thought all four areas we got to a really strong level today, where the players were just really determined to make sure that after obviously a disappointing game last game we just got back to our core beliefs as a team.
“Credit to the lads. I thought they were outstanding today because we knew first 10 minutes they’d come out firing.
“Obviously, the four losses they’d had were away from home, so being at home there’d be an energy in the stadium.
“We were going to have to sort of weather the storm, which I thought we did fairly well, and then we just grew into the game.
“Just so pleased for the players in the belief they have in trying to play the way we want to, and then you get a reward like that. I think it just hopefully furthers our progression.”
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
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How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
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RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)
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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The%20specs
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
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Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
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Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
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• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
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Rating: 3.5/5
Emirates exiles
Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.
