Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has warned that no club is immune from the sort of crisis that has enveloped rivals Manchester United in recent weeks.
City cruised to a 3-0 derby win at Old Trafford last Sunday, and the pressure on Erik ten Hag was then ramped up further after a 3-0 home loss to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday made it eight defeats from their opening 15 games in all competitions.
Guardiola’s side appeared in complete control of the derby as Erling Haaland scored a first-half penalty and then doubled City’s lead just four minutes into the second half, later teeing up Phil Foden to complete the scoring.
But the 52-year-old insisted the win had not been as straightforward as many thought.
“It was not easy,” Guardiola said. “It helped us to score the second goal early (in the second half) and then we had control but it’s never easy. I have a lot of respect for Manchester United.
“The period they have now, we can have it. Nobody is away from these kind of situations. We won the game but that’s all.”
Having been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle in September, City had a rare midweek off this week, which allowed a large delegation to travel to Paris for Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, where they had seven players shortlisted after last season’s treble-winning heroics.
Haaland was beaten to the main prize by Lionel Messi but took the Gerd Muller trophy as the main striker, while City were named club of the year.
Asked if Haaland had been frustrated to miss out on the Ballon d’Or itself, Guardiola said: “I saw him so happy to be a contender, close to Messi, (Kylian) Mbappe and the rest. It was a good night for Manchester City.
“Big congratulations for Messi. Manchester City was there, it is so important because we have not been there many times. We were important there. (Haaland) has all his career ahead of him so he has to see it as a challenge and think he can be back there next year if he helps the team.”
Since returning to Manchester focus has shifted to Saturday’s match against Bournemouth, an opportunity for City to go top, at least temporarily, with Arsenal at Newcastle later in the day and current leaders Tottenham not in action until they face Chelsea on Monday night.
City start the weekend two points off the summit but Guardiola is not worrying about the table at this early stage of the campaign.
“Every season is tougher from when I arrived,” he said. “Better managers, better teams, but this is the challenge,” he said. “What is important is we are still there after 10 games. There are still 28 to play and there is a lot to happen, but the way we are playing we are getting better.”
The Cherries ended their long wait for a first Premier League win of the season with victory over Burnley last weekend and Guardiola said he enjoyed the style of Andoni Iraola’s side and the way they approached Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at home to Liverpool, a 2-1 defeat.
“Of course always after the win they are confident,” Guardiola said. “They competed really well against Liverpool. Andoni is an incredibly well-respected manager in Spain playing in an offensive style. They don’t sit back.
“In Spain he is one of the youngest managers and joining the Premier League is an incredible success. Hopefully he will continue with a good performance.”
Israel 1-4 France: Rampant Bleus clinch back-to-back Nations League wins
France made it back-to-back wins in the Nations League, with Christopher Nkunku and Bradley Barcola among the scorers as they thrashed Israel 4-1 in Hungary.
Playing at a neutral venue in Budapest's Bozsik Arena, France flew out of the traps as Israel goalkeeper Omri Glazer let Eduardo Camavinga's strike squirm past him in the sixth minute.
Israel did draw level midway through the first half as Omri Gandelman headed Oscar Gloukh's cross home, but they were on terms for less than five minutes as Chelsea forward Nkunku flicked the ball through Ilay Feingold's legs before slotting a low finish into the far corner.
Randal Kolo Muani twice went close to extending France's lead before Matteo Guendouzi gave them breathing space in the 87th minute, rolling a finish beyond Glazer and into the bottom corner.
Didier Deschamps' men added further gloss to the scoreline two minutes later, Guendouzi finding a similar position, but this time opting to pick out Barcola for a curled finish.
The result sees France move onto six points in Group A2, one adrift of Italy – who beat them on matchday one. They face Belgium next time out on Monday.
Data Debrief: New-look Bleus sparkle
With Kylian Mbappe absent due to a niggling injury and Antoine Griezmann retiring from international football, Deschamps fielded a new-look frontline of Nkunku, Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise.
Recording 33 touches in the area to Israel's five, and 15 shots to their opponents' one, France certainly impressed.
Kolo Muani was a particular bright spark despite not getting on the scoresheet, with his four chances created being at least twice as many as any other player (Theo Hernandez laid on two).
Haaland becomes Norway's record scorer with Slovenia brace
Erling Haaland became Norway's all-time leading scorer with a brace in their 3-0 victory over Slovenia.
The Manchester City striker was captaining his first nation for the first time, and marked the occasion in trademark record-breaking fashion.
Haaland broke the deadlock after just seven minutes of the Nations League clash at the Ullevaal Stadium, where Alexander Sorloth doubled the lead seven minutes after the restart.
Sorloth then turned provider just after the hour mark for Haaland, who broke Jorgen Juve's 87-year record with his 34th international goal in just 36 caps.
The result put Norway firmly in charge of Group B3 with seven points, three ahead of Austria and Slovenia, with Kazakhstan propping up the table on one point.
England 1-2 Greece: Pavlidis ends Carsley's perfect start with stunning brace
Vangelis Pavlidis' dramatic 94th-minute winner brought Lee Carsley's perfect start to life as interim England coach crashing to a halt, as the Benfica forward netted twice in a stunning 2-1 win at Wembley.
Pavlidis danced through the Three Lions' static defence to give Greece a shock lead early in the second half, only for Jude Bellingham to fire home a leveller in the 87th minute.
But England struggled to find their groove with captain Harry Kane out injured, and after Greece had three goals disallowed, they could have few complaints when Pavlidis took advantage of a defensive mix-up to score a famous winner deep into stoppage time.
England's willingness to throw men forward allowed Greece plenty of opportunities in the first half, and only a spectacular goal-line clearance from Levi Colwill prevented the visitors from going ahead when Anastasios Bakasetas lobbed Jordan Pickford.
Pickford was then arguably fortunate to win a foul when his missed punch led to Konstantinos Mavropanos nodding the resulting corner in, before Cole Palmer fired off-target from a great position at the other end.
Anthony Gordon headed Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross over shortly before half-time, but Greece continued to threaten and got their reward four minutes after the restart.
Receiving the ball with three white shirts surrounding him in a crowded penalty area, Pavlidis showed great feet to retain possession before slotting his finish beyond Pickford.
Pavlidis was denied a second goal by the offside flag seven minutes from time, and England drew level just four minutes later, with Bellingham's side-footed finish packing too much power for Odysseas Vlachodimos in the Greece goal.
There was to be one final twist, though, as England's hapless defence missed multiple chances to clear their lines in the 94th minute, allowing Pavlidis to take possession and fire into the bottom-left corner to spark wild celebrations among the Greek fans.
Data Debrief: Wembley woes ancient history for Greece
Prior to Thursday, Greece had never scored at Wembley and had failed to beat England in nine competitive meetings (two draws, seven losses), being shut out on seven occasions.
But they showed no fear on a memorable night in London, beating a team ranked in the world's top five by FIFA for the first time since overcoming France en route to their stunning success at Euro 2004.
While Lee Carsley fell short of becoming the first England boss since Fabio Capello (in October 2008) to win his first three competitive matches in charge, Greece claimed a huge scalp on an emotional night, one day after the tragic death of full-back George Baldock.
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