Alan Shearer's warning to Pep Guardiola falls on deaf ears after Man City's 5-4 thriller

Manchester City secured a narrow 5-4 win over Fulham on Tuesday evening in a game jam-packed with drama from start to finish - but Pep Guardiola evidently has problems to address within his squad

Pep Guardiola has seemingly done very little to rectify the issues within his Manchester City defence that Alan Shearer highlighted last month.

The Sky Blues secured a 5-4 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Tuesday night, in a match jam-packed with goals and late drama. However, the victory could have been more convincing if Guardiola listened to the advice of Shearer, following Newcastle United's 2-1 triumph over City last month.

During that match, which took place at St James' Park on November 22, Harvey Barnes secured all three points for the hosts, firing either side of Ruben Dias' second-half strike. However, that fixture was also filled with controversy, given a number of decisions went in the Magpies favour which could have changed the result.

Phil Foden had a shout for a penalty waved off, despite being wiped out by Fabien Schar in the Newcastle Area, while Malick Thiaw also seemingly got away with one when the ball struck his raised arm in front of goal.

Elsewhere, there was speculation whether Barnes' second goal should have stood, given that Bruno Guimaraes looked to be offside in the build-up, only for VAR to highlight Dias' shoulder was playing the Brazilian on.

Guardiola was animated after the match, caught on camera speaking with Guimaraes, before telling the media of the result: "It is what it is. An entertaining game, they had chances, we had chances and in the end there are margins, and decisions and things. Good actions for them, and yeah, we lost the game."

However, Shearer suggested that Guardiola should have concentrated more on issues within the heart of his defence, instead of picking problem with refereeing decisions. He said at the time: "For me, nothing wrong with the goal Newcastle scored.

"But for me, the concern would be how many chances they're giving up, not on the refereeing decisions and bad luck. It was how many chances Newcastle created today because if they'd have had their finishing boots on...

"As I said, they should have scored six or seven. They missed four absolute sitters, and the way they carved City open would be the bigger concern for me."

It appears as though Guardiola has failed to address issues leading to chance creation for opposing teams, as evidenced by a 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen the following week, shipping two goals to Leeds United in a 3-2 win, and Tuesday night's nine-goal thriller.

This season thus far, City have conceded 16 goals in total, with issues in the backline evident at Craven Cottage. Erling Haaland opened the scoring for the Cityzens 17 minutes into the first-half, before Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden bolstered their lead to 3-0.

Emile Smith-Rowe managed to eat into City's lead ahead of the break. Foden bagged his brace shortly after play resumed, before Sander Berge found the back of his own net to seemingly put the match out of reach of Fulham.

However, a goal from Alex Iwobi and a late brace from Samuel Chukwueze put the pressure on City, who scrambled to hold onto their lead for rest of the match and eight minutes of additional time. Their endeavours were ultimately fruitful, holding onto a 5-4 lead to return to the north west with all three points.

Up next for City is a return to the Etihad Stadium to play host to a newly-promoted Sunderland AFC. The club currently sit second in the Premier League standings, just two points shy of Arsenal, although the Gunners are still yet to face Brentford in Gameweek 14 on Wednesday evening, where they will do all within their power to bolster their lead once more.