Bernardo Silva claims Man City are in a ‘DARK place’ after their humbling 4-1 defeat against Sporting Lisbon… but Pep Guardiola disagrees and urges his players to be more ’emotionally stable’

Bernardo Silva admitted Manchester City are ‘in a dark place’ for the first time in six years after three consecutive competitive defeats.

City were humiliated 4-1 by Ruben Amorim’s Sporting in the manager’s final home match before taking over at Manchester United next week.

Pep Guardiola branded his players as emotionally unstable as he gave away two penalties to hat-trick hero Viktor Gyokeres after a second-half capitulation, with Erling Haaland also missing a penalty in the Portuguese capital.

“Even when we play well, we don’t score our chances and we concede too easily,” Silva complained.

“We definitely have to look inward and see what we’re not doing right. And we have to get better very quickly, otherwise it will be very difficult to come back from these losses.

Sporting Lisbon triumphed 4-1 against the Premier League club, suffering their third defeat in a row

Pep Guardiola disagreed with Silva’s assessment and insisted his team has ‘no dark side’

“It’s disappointing because we’re in a dark situation right now. Everything seems to be going in the wrong direction.

‘It’s hard to find reasons for what’s happening to us. I don’t remember this team losing three games in a row. It seems like this team is going in the wrong direction right now.”

An excited Guardiola disagreed with Silva’s assessment and said City, who took an early lead through Phil Foden, were much better after the weekend’s defeat to Bournemouth.

And the Catalan, who was out of contract this summer, emphasized that the dip in results gives him extra energy.

“We are not in a dark side,” Guardiola said. ‘You can’t say it was a good performance, we lost 4-1, but the players know they played well. We were what we are.

‘I’m not giving up. Maybe people are waiting, but I’m not giving up. I like it, I love it. I want to face it, lift my players up and try. Life is like that. But it’s difficult for the players, I understand that.

‘With some actions we don’t have to touch the opponents in the penalty area. Emotionally we are not stable enough. We can’t give away the promotions. I’m here. I want to be here and fight and not give up. I like this challenge. People who want to follow us will be there.’

It was a particularly tough evening for Erling Haaland, who shot his penalty onto the crossbar

The Portuguese midfielder was interviewed immediately after City suffered a blow in Lisbon

Viktor Gyokeres scored a stunning hat-trick to complete Sporting’s sensational turnaround

Guardiola claimed goals are difficult to come by for City, with a number of missed chances before Sporting took the lead seconds after half-time. “It happened in my early years,” he said. ‘Apologize? Everyone has to get better.”

Silva added: “The good thing is that even though we have lost these three games, we are still in a good position, especially in the Premier League. After losing three games, we are still in the main competitions and fighting for everything. But of course it has to be better.

“Our injured players need to come back because we need them and it’s just not good enough tonight.”

Amorim was given an emotional farewell and given a full-time guard of honor by his players before being mobbed by the team.

“The writing was on the wall that this was meant to be,” Amorim said. ‘I thank everyone for the victory. If we hadn’t won the game, the moment wouldn’t be as great.

‘The players know what I have done for them and what they have done for me. I will keep these memories forever. It was written that I had to say goodbye in this way.

Guardiola stressed that ‘everyone has to be better’ when asked to assess the disappointing result

Missing key chances has been a major problem for Manchester City of late – and was particularly highlighted during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

‘The most special night of the last four years was when we lost 5-0 to City here and everyone applauded for us.

‘Everyone here who has seen Sporting over the past four years deserved an evening like this. We shouldn’t stop here. It’s personal because of the circumstances, but we have to think about the next match in Braga. My son is a fan of Sports and will remain so.’

Gyokeres was one of the first to thank his manager, admitting: ‘We will miss him very much. We’ve done great things together. We will miss him and the other guys on the staff who will be leaving.”