Pep Guardiola played down worries over Aymeric Laporte’s lack after Norwich took full advantage of defensive frailties to overcome Manchester City 3-2 in Carrow Road.??
Without the injured Laporte, who is out before the new year after knee surgery, the City back-line were not up to scratch as the Canaries ran out jolt winners, reside on Saturday Night Football.
Before Sergio Aguero pulled a goal back on the stroke of 25, goals from Todd Cantwell and Kenny McLean had the newly-promoted side deservedly.
But, together with Kevin De Bruyne surprisingly only called a replacement, the much-anticipated comeback never materialised since Teemu Pukki added a third following awful defending from Nicolas Otamendi.
A late strike from Rodri was little consolation for the visitors, who suffered their first defeat of the season to give Liverpool a lead in the summit.
Guardiola dismissed suggestions his side have a glaring weakness, although Otamendi and also john Stones began three times from the Premier League last season.
The Catalan told Sky Sports: »It is a venture which has played with a lot. We have got Rodri and Fernandinho who can play there in circumstances and it is not a concern. Things occur.
« We didn’t anticipate the harm and in over three decades together John and Nicolas have played and thanks to those we have won.
« Laporte is wounded and Kompany is now in Anderlecht, so we can’t simply analyse it off one game. We need to improve on that and hopefully we can do better. »
Having hauled back the deficit, Otamendi and Stones survived one mix-up as Pukki hurried on a ball to skew his shot wide – however seconds made amends.
Stones gathered the ball on the edge of the box to Otamendi and since the dallied, Emiliano Buendia nipped in to steal ownership and put Pukki’s sixth goal of the effort.
Guardiola slumped to his knees after the setback, however, bullishly included: »I understand what we are as a group, I understand what we’ve achieved and I know what we will do again.
« I really like my players, it’s a joy and an honor to be together, but it is a challenge at the highest level. We can’t expect also to achieve 90 points over and to win every time.
« We are going to need to recuperate, we head to Europe today, then we’ll come back.
« We understood the caliber of Norwich and we have had a good deal of times to work on it. Conceding aims is a part of football, and in the end we pushed a lot, but I have to congratulate Norwich. »
Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports: »The Laporte lack is the story at the moment, make no mistake of it. I believed that in the summertime, after dropping Vincent Kompany they needed to recruit.
« Matthijs De Ligt went to Juventus and he had the profile of everything Town like to buy, Harry Maguire moved to Man Utd and it was odd for them because their recruiting is usually spot on.
« You can not foresee an injury just such as Laporte’s when he’s out for six weeks, but you have to be ready for every eventuality. At the moment, it is looking like it could cost them. »

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