Pep Guardiola dismantles Erling Haaland's post-match comments and 'doesn't agree' with what he said

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has leapt to the defence of underperforming striker Erling Haaland after the Norwegian made a frank admission.

City slipped to a ninth loss in their past 12 matches across all competitions as their dismal form continued with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon at Villa Park.

Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers scored either side of half-time to ensure three points for Unai Emery's men, with Phil Foden netting what proved to be nothing more than a consolation in stoppage time.

City have now slipped to sixth in the Premier League table and trail leaders Liverpool by nine points with Arne Slot's side having two games in hand.

Though there is plenty of action still to take place this season, it is looking increasingly likely that City will not be extending their Premier League title winning run to five consecutive crowns.

The crisis on the pitch has also seen Haaland's goals dry up.

Although the striker has scored 13 Premier League goals so far this campaign, only three have been since the start of October.

Haaland gave a frank and honest assessment of his form after the game, admitting he personally has not been good enough in front of goal recently when it comes to taking chances and that he must improve.

Erling Haaland. (Image: Getty)

He said: "The first thing I am looking at is myself, I have not been doing things good enough, have not been scoring my chances and everything. I have to be better. There is a lot on me and I’ve not been good enough.

"We know how important confidence is. You can see it. It affects every human being [but] we have to continue. We have to stay positive even though it is difficult. We have to keep working hard."

But City boss Guardiola disagreed with Haaland's view and instead believes that though City are in a poor run of form, they would be in an even worse position were it not for the striker.

He said: "I don't agree with him. Without him we'd be even worse, but I like the players feeling that way. It's the only chance that we have to get better. There is two options: do I judge myself? Yes, and the other option is blame within your side and that depends on them.

"I'm not agreeing with Erling because we tried and at the end he needs to deliver the right goals in the right spots and in the right positions, but now we recover and we'll fight for the next one."

City are back in action on Boxing Day when they face Everton at the Etihad Stadium.