Pep Guardiola's dig amid Erling Haaland anger as Man City look to get their season back on track

Manchester City will be keen to get to next week's November international break after a bruising run of fixtures.

A number of injuries have hampered City's progress in recent weeks and the situation has caught up with them on the pitch.

Pep Guardiola's side have lost their last three matches in all competitions, culminating in a humiliating 4-1 loss to Sporting CP in Lisbon on Tuesday night.

The Portuguese champions are managed by incoming Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, too, adding further salt to City wounds.

In the aftermath of that loss, and as we build towards Saturday's Premier League trip to Brighton and Hove Albion, here's a round up of today's key Man City headlines.

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Angry Haaland

Haaland has got himself in the right positions and had plenty of shots, but they just aren't going in. He registered his second-highest expected goals figure in a City shirt against Southampton but only scored one, had two or three great efforts at Bournemouth but couldn't find the back of the net, and at Sporting he looked in the mood once more - only to spurn a number of good chances.

The best opportunity of the lot came from the penalty spot, given extremely fortunately in City's favour at 3-1 down. A delay seemingly interrupted his focus and Haaland's spot kick smacked the bar and flew over. What is it about Haaland and penalties in Europe?

He has had 17 shots on goal since his successful effort against Southampton, of which eight have been on target. He's hardly out of form, but he's not in form either.

Haaland was first to slam the ball down on the centre-spot after each goal City conceded, seemingly angry at another strike going against them. He puffed his cheeks out when the penalty went over, and looked frustrated when Bernardo Silva grabbed the ball before it was given - as it turned out to take pressure off his teammate.

That was the kind of disconnect between the forwards that had been going on all night. Too many flicks or overhit passes. Players where they shouldn't be. Not crossing when they should.

At full-time, Haaland was visibly angry at his performance and the overall situation. While other City players shook hands with the hosts and offered apologetic applause to the fans, Haaland was seen heading briefly to the fans to applaud them before walking straight down the tunnel with minimal post-match pleasantries on the pitch.

It summed up his night and City's - the players were just on different pages.

Read the full moments you might have missed from City's loss in Lisbon, here.

Pep's cheeky dig

Pep Guardiola insists he will relish the challenge of getting Manchester City's season back on track after their thumping defeat at Sporting Lisbon.

The Etihad chief also aimed a cheeky dig at rivals Manchester United when discussing their new boss Ruben Amorim, who was in the Sporting dug-out for the penultimate time on Tuesday night ahead of his move to Old Trafford.

Here's every word from the City boss.

Bernardo admission could cause rethink

Pep Guardiola has a lot of trust in his most experienced Manchester City stars - as you would given they have won six Premier League titles in seven years.

For the moment though, they are struggling. Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne have not been fit enough to show any kind of form, while Ilkay Gundogan appears to have been hindered in finding his rhythm by starting more games than anybody expected after a lack of pre-season.

The longer those problems have persisted to worsen a lengthy injury list, the more energy has been sapped from those who have been left to play every three days. While the manager disputed it, it was understandable that Bernardo Silva spoke about the team being in a dark place after their Sporting humbling and in a later interview he spoke about thinking beyond the Brighton game on Saturday.

Read the full story, here.