Managers Farke and Guardiola react after Norwich's stunning win over Man City

Norwich City manager Daniel Farke intends to be quite restrained in his celebrations after his side beat Manchester City 3-2 in stunning fashion, while his opposite number Pep Guardiola will not be persuaded to enter the market for a central defender despite the loss.

Norwich City boss Daniel Farke (L) shakes Pep Guardiola's (R) hand.

Norwich City was without 11 players due to injury and head coach Daniel Farke had to include two goalkeepers as substitutes in order to fill his bench, but it pulled off a stunning 3-2 home win over champion Manchester City.

The Canaries led 2-0 thanks to goals from Kenny McLean and Todd Cantwell and held their nerve despite Sergio Aguero halving the deficit before half-time.

Nicolas Otamendi's error led to Teemu Pukki making it 3-1 and although Rodri's late strike set up a nervous finale, the promoted outfit were able to hold on for a famous victory.

City's first loss in the Premier League since January leaves it five points behind Liverpool, which has won all five of its games in the 2019-20 campaign, as Pep Guardiola's men seek a third consecutive title.

- Guardiola congratulates clinical Canaries -

City manager Guardiola congratulated Norwich after it inflicted one of the biggest shock results in Premier League history.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola shakes hands with Norwich City defender Ben Godfrey.

 

"Sometimes games like this happen – we had our chances to score but didn't, so congratulations to Norwich," Guardiola said. "It is football – we had many opportunities today, they had three or four and scored three goals."

"The first one was a set-piece we didn't defend, the second we were caught on the counter-attack and the third came from a mistake, but we know what we are as a team, we know what we have done and we know what we are going to do," he added.

"They are a really good team with good players who have quality, we saw that in the Championship last year, they were clinical today. We did not have urgency in the final third that we normally have. Even at 3-2 we had chances to make it 3-3 – this team never gives up and that's why we have done what we have done."

- Farke to celebrate Norwich win with 'a coffee and a piece of cake' - but only after training -

Norwich coach Farke will celebrate his team's surprise victory over Manchester City with "a coffee and a piece of cake" after training on Sunday.

Asked how he would celebrate the famous victory, Farke said: "To be honest, it was a really complicated week and I'm happy when I'm back on my sofa this evening because I'm too old and too exhausted to celebrate.

"We have training Sunday morning and we have to analyse the game so for that I have to watch the game back. So it will be a pretty late night for me to be prepared, but hopefully on Sunday afternoon on the sofa I can have a coffee and a piece of cake, I will celebrate with this," he added

READ| Premier League: Norwich City stuns Manchester City 3-2

"All our supporters are definitely allowed to celebrate and enjoy this day because if you don't value these moments you lose your motivation, but we will definitely stay calm. It is definitely a proud night, without any doubt," said the German coach.

"I always believe in my players. We know we were not the favourites and everything has to come together. But we play football to reach something excellent, not just realistic things. Against such quality you have to play slightly different because you can't control possession against Manchester City. We had to try and allow Manchester City possession in certain areas and with certain players."

"It was complicated to prepare this game, but my lads fulfilled everything we tried to work on in the last few days in a perfect way," the German manager concluded.

- Guardiola defiant over defensive reinforcements despite Man City's set-piece woes -

Guardiola insists he does not need to bring in defensive reinforcements in the January transfer window despite Manchester City's surprise loss.

Aymeric Laporte is expected to be out until the new year after undergoing surgery on a knee injury, with the Premier League champions losing at Carrow Road in his absence on Saturday.

Before the game Guardiola indicated City would not enter the market to replace Laporte despite being left with only two senior centre-backs, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi, after the departure of club captain Vincent Kompany.

Stones and Otamendi were both at fault in a dreadful defensive performance as City lost in the league for the first time since January, with McLean's headed opener coming from a corner.

Asked if City have a problem defending near-post corners in particular, Guardiola said: "In four seasons, yes. Our quality of play is different but we defended incredibly well in the past."

Guardiola, who surprisingly left talisman Kevin De Bruyne on the bench, feels Stones and Otamendi can still form a reliable partnership in the wake of their error-strewn display, while Kyle Walker was involved in conceding a cheap second goal to Cantwell.

"It's football," he added. "We talk and improve from this, Kyle knows it and this happens sometimes, try to improve for the next time.

"They [Stones and Otamendi] play how many times together? A lot, they are the centre-backs we have. Maybe Fernandinho or Rodri can play there. I'm not worried, it's football. How many games John and Nico played in more than three games together? A lot," added Pep.