An Eliaquim Mangala own-goal, plus strikes from Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Martin Skretl consigned City to their heaviest Premier League defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
Sergio Aguero scored a stunning goal on his return to the starting line-up and there was a lively second-half appearance from Fabian Delph, but those bright spots were overshadowed by the painful result.
Pellegrini said: “The performance was unbelievable. We have difficulty in understanding why we played so badly as a complete team. Defending, attacking, possession - I’ve never seen this team play like we did tonight.”
The manager, who replaced Yaya Toure and Jesus Navas with Delph and Fernandinho at the break, did not regret his team selection, adding: “I will not explain the starting 11. If I had to choose again I would do the same. It’s not one name or another name. It was a complete disaster - the whole team.
“I was not happy with performance of 11 players, not only Yaya and Navas. We tried another system, we tried to press high but it was the exactly the same, it was not our night.”
City did have chances to close the gap early in the second-half, with Fernando and Aguero threatening, but at the other end Joe Hart pulled off a string of stunning stops to prevent even more damage.
It all left Pellegrini puzzled, with the boss reflecting: “We didn’t create chances we concede four goals we could have conceded three or four more. It’s difficult to understand.
“We need to turn the page as soon as we can. This performance is not normal, we all must think what will happen in the future, we have an important game on Wednesday, sometimes it happens in football to play like this.”
Premier League action returns to the Etihad Stadium at 3pm on Saturday 28 November, with the visit of Southampton. Tickets are on sale and priced at only £5 for Under 16s and £40 for Adults. Buy now to make sure you don’t miss out.
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