With their spotlight off, Chelsea moved two points behind long-time Premier League leaders Liverpool, beating Brentford 2-1.
Wolves sacked Gary O’Neill after their fourth straight defeat, while Southampton sacked Russell Martin after a 5-0 defeat by Tottenham.
AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the Premier League weekend.
– Elusive Answers for Pep –
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It’s hard to argue that the city is now experiencing a full-blown crisis.
Guardiola, who signed a new two-year contract last month after City had lost four in a row, said he did not think he could leave the club in difficult times.
Now he faces questions – how and when – he can stop the rot after a painful 2-1 defeat at United, who won just one of their first four league games under Amorim.
Guardiola delivered a harsh self-assessment after the defeat, which came courtesy of an 88th-minute Bruno Fernandes penalty and an Amad Diallo winner two minutes later.
“I’m the manager and I’m not good enough, simple as that,” he said.
Midfielder Bernardo Silva was even harsher, comparing City’s last-minute collapse to that of the under-15 team.
City have winnable games – against Aston Villa, Everton and Leicester – on paper – but with each defeat the scale of Guardiola’s task looks more daunting.
Two horse racing?
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Liverpool had a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League earlier this month – this has now dropped to just two.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have won their last five games to close the gap on the Reds, who have a game in hand.
Liverpool showed impressive strength of character and drew 2-2 with Fulham on Saturday despite playing with 10 players but falling behind twice.
But their momentum has slowed, with Fulham’s result following a 3-3 draw with Newcastle last week.
Free-scoring Chelsea have taken full advantage, edging out London rivals Arsenal, runners-up in the past two campaigns, to stake their claim as Liverpool’s main challengers.
The Blues finished strongly last season under former manager Mauricio Pochettino but few expected Maresca to master his brief so quickly.
The Chelsea boss is keen to say they are not in the title race but the table suggests otherwise.
O’Neill, Martin fired for fear of relegation
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Gary O’Neill and Russell Martin paid the price for their clubs’ Premier League struggles.
Martin’s sacking was announced after Sunday’s horrendous first-half defeat by Spurs at St Mary’s, where they scored all five goals.
Wolves suffered a 2-1 defeat to relegation rivals Ipswich at Molineux on Saturday, after which O’Neill said he was struggling to help his team cope with “the real basic stuff”.
Wolves, who are second from the bottom of the table, are five points from safety.
But their plight is not as dire as Southampton’s, who favor an immediate return to the Championship.
Martin, who has just five points from 16 games, is nine points behind Southampton in safety.