Manchester City’s decision to announce the hiring of Pep Guardiola five months before he took over, with more than three months left in the season, isn’t looking too smart right now.

Sure, it was something for the club and its supporters to be excited about, but it’s had the unforeseen consequence of torpedoing this current season.

Since the announcement, the club managed to win the League Cup and has reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, a first for them, but they were booted from the FA Cup after a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of a mediocre Chelsea side and are now in serious danger of not finishing in the top four in the Premier League.

City are ahead of West Ham and Manchester United by just a single point in fourth place after being beaten 1-0 by their local rivals over the weekend.

Despite starting strong, Manuel Pellegrini’s side was soon backed into a corner by an unexpectedly fast and creative United. In the 16th minute, the Red Devils’ latest teenage phenom, striker Marcus Rashford, effortlessly skipped past defender Martín Demichelis before placing a calm shot past keeper Joe Hart for the game’s only goal.

United didn’t score again – they were denied an obvious penalty that could have made the result look a tad more emphatic – but they were clearly the deserved winners, running City ragged until the 60th minute, at which point they calmly stepped back and soaked up City’s uninspired attack for the duration.

The loss highlighted everything that’s gone wrong for City since the Guardiola announcement. They’re an aging team whose recent signings – with the exception of Kevin De Bruyne, who’s currently hurt – haven’t worked out, leaving them particularly vulnerable when stars such as Vincent Kompany, their one reliable defender, are hurt. Despite registering 21 more shots than their local rivals, City never really looked like they were going to score.

Now, with just eight games left in the season, Pelligrini has to find some way to arrest his team’s slide. It doesn’t help that West Ham, in fifth place above United because of goal differential, are on a great run of form, and United have a knack for making things work, even if it doesn’t feel entirely deserved. It’s not hard to imagine either team slipped ahead of City to finish fourth.

Even if they finish out of the top four, City can still play their way into the Champions League by winning this season’s tournament. But they’re matched in the next round with a superior Paris SG team and likely will be without De Bruyne, Hart and Kompany. There’s a very real possibility that City and Guardiola will be playing in the Europa League next season, a thought unlikely to thrill the manager or his players.

How quickly it can all fall apart.

There’s no way to avoid it: English clubs have played terribly in Europe this season. Only two of the Premier League entrants reached the quarterfinals – City in the Champions League, Liverpool in the Europa League. But while it’s been a disappointing season on the continent, things at home have been great. With the final game of the season less than two months away, there are three races to keep an eye on.

First, you have the fight for the league title. There are only two teams that really have a realistic shot, unless something gets really weird. Leicester have a healthy five-point lead, and have slowly turned into a team that can grind out wins. But if nerves start to set in, or Riyad Mahrez were to get hurt, Tottenham will look to pounce.

Next up, you have the race for fourth place and the final Champions League spot. Arsenal look safe in third, while City, West Ham and United likely will continue to jockey for position until the final weekend.

Finally, you have the battle for to avoid relegation. Aston Villa will be relegated, so it’s just a matter of which two teams will join them. Just three points separate the three teams just ahead — Norwich (17th, having played an extra game), Sunderland (18th) and Newcastle (19th).

This Premier League season has been unpredictable since the first kick-off, and chances are that will continue through until the final whistle on May 15.

Tottenham’s Harry Kane, the league’s leading scorer, has recorded some beauties this season, but few have been as nice as his first of his two goals (0:20 mark) in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth. The forward got on the end of a beautiful through-ball from Kyle Walker and with an almost imperceptible flick of the toe put it past the keeper.

Manchester City defender Martín Demichelis had a nightmare of a game. Incapable of dealing with the pace of Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, a player 17 years his junior, he let the teen get past him for the first goal. Even worse was a terrible back pass (0:55) to keeper Joe Hart at the beginning of the second half. Hart was forced to stretch to get to the ball before speedy Anthony Martial closed in, and ended up hurting his calf, an injury that might keep him out for a number of games at a time when City cannot afford to be without another leader. Demichelis was substituted out moments later.

Leicester in control at the top, City in a top-four fight and Norwich in danger of the drop despite their table position (last week’s rankings in parentheses).

1. Leicester City (1)
2. Tottenham (2)
3. Arsenal (3)
4. West Ham (5)
5. Manchester United (6)
6. Manchester City (4)
7. Southampton (9)
8. Chelsea (8)
9. Liverpool (7)
10. Stoke (10)
11. West Brom (12)
12. Watford (11)
13. Bournemouth (13)
14. Everton (14)
15. Swansea (15)
16. Crystal Palace (16)
17. Newcastle (18)
18. Sunderland (17)
19. Norwich (19)
20. Aston Villa (20)