Hart’s first-half parry from Cesc Fabregas’ spot kick kept the interval score to 1-0 as the Blues battled to overcome the early loss of Dedryck Boyata, whose foul brought a red card as he was deemed last defender.
But even though strikes from Samir Nasri, Alex Song and substitute Nicklas Bendtner inflicted City’s first home defeat of the campaign, Hart and his team-mates insist their momentum will not be broken.
Hart said: “Going down to ten men so early and playing against a quality side, it was to be expected that they would get the result, but the score in no way reflects how well we played.
“It was obviously a one-off in that Dedryck got sent off with four minutes gone, so you’re playing against one of the best teams in Europe and you’re one man short.
We played really well and drew a lot of positives. We are going to push forward from this - we’ve had a very successful start to the season and we’re a well-oiled machine
“The games will come thick and fast - that’s the good thing about being at this club, it’s so exciting! People are coming back from injury now and it was nice to see Mario getting his first Premier League action.
“Shaun and Zaba were not even in today’s squad, and I was thinking how ridiculously good our squad is, with all those players at our disposal. Everyone’s position is being pressed, and that’s a real positive for the team.
“We’ve got players who put their bodies on the line, and nobody is going to out-muscle us. We’ve got some absolute brutes in defence, it’s not just the attackers who are running the show.
“We’re not clear second in the table any more, but we are still up there level on points - we’re level on points, second in the Premier League, and people are devastated! What does that say about this club now?”
