“This was not our team, we cannot lose so many balls with the technical players we have. In the first half we lost too many balls, especially in the first 15 minutes.

“I’m concerned that we are losing the ball too much - pressure is a factor. There is much we must analyse to improve.”

City skipper Vincent Kompany’s recent poor form continued as he lost the ball in the move that led to Liverpool’s opener, a thunderbolt from Jordan Henderson.

But Pellegrini refused to criticise defender Kompany and said: “It’s more important to analyse than the performance of one player. It is more important to think as a team.

“We will never give up on the title. We must try to improve our play first and after that try to win our next game.

“You never know in football what will happen. It’s more difficult when you have fewer games and you continue with the same points. But I don’t think the team can think about that. The team must think about how we can win the next game.

“We will see in the reaction in the next game [on Wednesday at home to bottom club Leicester]. The only way to see is the the way play again on Wednesday. Every point we drop makes it more difficult.”

Henderson’s opener was cancelled out by Edin Dzeko, but Coutinho’s majestic strike saw Liverpool win and move up to fifth in the race for a top-four spot.