MANCHESTER – The statistics just keep getting worse for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.
City’s Premier League title challenge took a major blow on Saturday after being thrashed 4-0 at home by Tottenham.
Recommended Videos
A fifth-straight defeat in all competitions was the worst losing run of any defending champion in England since Chelsea in 1956, according to the league's stats supplier Opta.
Manager Pep Guardiola had never lost four successive matches in his trophy-laden coaching career at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City - but that record has now been extended to five after a humbling defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
The league said it was only the second time Guardiola had lost at home by four goals - the previous occasion being a 4-0 loss to Real Madrid when coach of Barcelona in 2014. It said it was City's heaviest loss at home since 2003 when going down 5-1 against Arsenal.
Four-time defending champion City conceded two goals in the opening 20 minutes and twice more after the break against a rampant Tottenham.
In Guardiola's first game since extending his contract for a further two years, he watched as James Maddison put Spurs in control with goals in the 13th and 20th minutes. Pedro Porro added a third for Tottenham in the 52nd and substitute Brennan Johnson completed the rout in the third minute of added time.
City is five points behind league leader Liverpool, which plays last-place Southampton on Sunday.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer