The wheels fell off earlier this term, though, as City lost nine out of 12 games in all competitions while conceding 27 goals between the end of October and Christmas, as their pursuit of a fourth straight league title collapsed in a heap.
City have recently shown glimpses of being back to their best, going unbeaten in 10 matches — two in the FA Cup en route to Saturday's final — as they close in on qualification for next season's Champions League.
One of those was a disappointing 0-0 draw at relegated Southampton last weekend, however, as City failed to break down a low block — foreshadowing Saturday's loss.
Guardiola saw improvement from that draw but suggested City may have over-corrected slightly from their poor form earlier in the season.
“I think we fixed in the last month the problem that we had all the season defensively ... in the last period we were so stable,” he told reporters.
“We conceded five goals in nine games \[before today\], so we are stable (but) we didn't create much.”
**Reuters**