Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland
Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland look distraught after City's late defeat to Manchester United
Manchester City's nightmare run continued as they threw away a winning position on derby day to suffer a dramatic defeat to Manchester United.
In a low quality and scrappy game, City took the lead shortly before half-time from a short corner routine that initially went wrong. Ilkay Gundogan's pass back to Kevin De Bruyne didn't have enough pace on it, but it meant De Bruyne's deflected cross fell perfectly for Josko Gvardiol to head past Andre Onana.
City looked to be edging their way over the line until their astonishing late collapse. An error from Matheus Nunes allowed Bruno Fernandes to equalise from the spot after 88 minutes, before Amad scored a winner two minutes later.
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A broken team
It was interesting to observe the reaction of the City players at the end of this game. Some of them couldn't get off the pitch quickly enough, which can't be blamed after the way they lost the game. Others lingered, almost unable to actually drag themselves off.
Gvardiol and Erling Haaland were the last off, leaving at the same time as some of the United players, who had spent a while celebrating in front of the away end in the far corner. By now the home stands were almost totally deserted, beyond a few fans still struggling to comprehend what they had seen.
A few City players clapped the supporters and Gvardiol and Haaland lingered most of all, going to all four stands, even if they were almost empty. Body language experts would have had a field day, for they looked utterly broken by what had happened.
Haaland was ashen faced as he tried to understand it and it's probably a good thing City have a free week now. They need the rest to get over this and they need the space to try and lift morale, because right now this looks an awful lot like a broken team.
Guardiola's Doku chat
During a break in play just past the midway point of the first half, Pep Guardiola called Jeremy Doku over for a chat and made clear his frustrations with some of the winger's play.
Guardiola had his arm around the winger and gave him an animated and intense debrief of what he wanted from him. The 22-year-old had been City's best attacking outlet in the sense of seeing most of the ball, but his use of it continued to frustrate. Far too often his passes would go astray or his final ball would be poor.
Doku wasn't the only culprit in what was a sloppy performance at times, from both teams, but he was closest to Guardiola and it was also clear the City boss felt like he was the most likely outlet to crack open the game.
It was also something of a new role for Doku, who was hugging the left touchline one minute and then popping up as a No. 10 next. Often the Belgian would drift infield and take up more central positions, particularly when City either didn't have possession or had just won it.
It looked like Guardiola's way of trying the block the central areas that United try to play through at times and he wanted to make sure Doku had a full grasp of what was being asked of him.
Haaland's leadership role
City got together in their usual pre-match huddle while Kyle Walker was still doing the pre-match toss and it was interesting to see Haaland leading a lot of the early chat in the circle.
Walker and Ruben Dias have often led those discussions, but Haaland was vocal this time and keen to try and get his teammates going. Perhaps a sign of the striker taking on more of a leadership role in the group.
Directors' box chat
There might be animosity in this rivalry but there were lots of friendly chats in the directors' box pre-match. United technical director Jason Wilcox and City's head of South American recruitment Joan Patsy had a long chat half an hour before kick-off, before the big hitters arrived.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe was accompanied in by Sir Dave Brailsford but then sought out City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak for a friendly chat before the game began. Both men were laughing as they shared a few stories.
Ratcliffe and Al Mubarak have a relationship from before the former's arrival as United's minority owner earlier this year. Ratcliffe messaged Al Mubarak to congratulate him and City on winning the treble in 2023 and even picked his brains on running a club before his investment in United.
Late arrival
The City team bus arrived at the Etihad a little later than usual on Sunday, pulling in after the team had dropped 75 minutes before kick-off. The squad usually arrive 90 minutes before a match.
For the Nottingham Forest game, the team bus arrived earlier than usual, and although the changes in timings are only small, the fact the bus is only travelling a few hundred yards from the training ground suggests it is planned. Guardiola is trying everything to change City's fortunes.