Norwich 3-2 Manchester City: 3 Reasons why Manchester City lost the match | Premier League 2019/2020

#2 Uncharacteristic errors by Manchester City players

Guardiola's men had an error-strewn performance

While Manchester City might be almost pristine in their attacking fluidity, their defence is an entirely different proposition and leaves a lot to be desired.

Though they rarely concede goals and keep lots of clean sheets, this is down to the ability of their midfielders and continuous attacking play rather than the individual brilliance of their defenders, as Manchester City's possession-based style of play means the ball is constantly in the opposition half, giving them limited chances of testing their goalkeeper.

Aymeric Laporte's knee injury robbed Guardiola off his most reliable defender, and in his stead, the much-maligned John Stones stepped in to partner Nicolas Otamendi at the heart of the defence.

This was a pairing that was fully exploited by the Norwich attack, as they forced the City backline into numerous errors and duly punished them for it.

Kenny Mclean was left totally unmarked from Emi Buendia's corner for Norwich's opener, while Teemu Pukki caught the Manchester City defenders out of position before teeing up Todd Cantwell for the home team's second.

The Cityzens' hopes of a comeback were dealt a major blow when John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi showed a great misunderstanding which led to the Argentine being dispossessed by Brenda en route Pukki scoring Norwich's third.

Further up the other end Manchester City were also uncharacteristically sloppy, and failed to take their chances, while also failing to play the right final ball with Bernardo Silva being the chief culprit.

Manchester City under Guardiola have earned a reputation of being pristine in their play down to the last detail, but against Norwich, the reverse was the case and they paid dearly for it.