City saw plenty of the ball and were well on top until Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring on 34 minutes – the hosts’ first shot on goal.
A second goal just after half-time knocked the stuffing out of the Blues who couldn’t find a way back into the game thereafter.
“We made a good performance in the first half and we created enough chances to score a goal,” lamented the boss.
“And what happened after, we were not able to score a goal and they arrived once and scored a goal and in the second half they scored another quick goal and that is so tough mentally for the players.
“We have said for a long time - I think it started in the Everton game at home when we missed two penalties and afterwards in many, many games - we create, we are there, we created chances but we don’t score and when the opponents have a chance, they punish us.
“After that, it’s tough for the players because of course at 2-0, they defended with nine players behind the ball and used the counter attack and everything can happen in the last minutes.
“So the consequence of the game is an example of many games that have happened this season. That is football. In football, sometimes you don’t need to do many, many things to win the game.
“We could have had a penalty from the challenge on Raheem when he was one against one with the goalkeeper. They scored with their first chance but we were not able to do that and it’s not just today, it’s almost all of the season. It’s tough for the players, it’s tough to once again handle that situation.
“Of course we can do better. It’s awful for my players. It’s an exceptional situation because for the last seven years I have always been there (at the top of the league). But it’s not for me, of course, that it’s tough because all the managers in the world and all the teams in the world try to do their best and fight as much as possible so in that sense there’s no doubt about that. It’s harder, the only way I know, like all football players and managers right now, is to work harder. Now we have one week to think about what we can do to beat Tottenham.
“In the bad moments we have to be close and I said to the players be positive because you made some fantastic things during the season and for many reasons we didn’t get what I think we deserved but I think all the managers can say that. We are going to try and keep going.”
