Guardiola says Man City 'cannot blame bad luck'

Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, stated that his team cannot rely on excuses like being unlucky when they fail to maintain their lead in matches. This was evident when they allowed Crystal Palace to equalize during their recent game resulting in a 2-2 draw.

The team who previously won the championship were in the lead by two points with only 15 minutes remaining in the game. However, the opposition scored a goal by Jean-Philippe Mateta's breakaway and managed to net a penalty in the 95th minute, giving them an unbelievable victory.

City have had the unfortunate experience of being held during four of their past six Premier League matches, even though they were leading at a later stage. This has resulted in them being three points behind the current leaders, Liverpool, who still have a game pending.

"We didn't have bad luck, we earned it," Guardiola expressed. "We lost two points because we committed a penalty, so we deserved it."

The team City did not have their top goal scorer Erling Haaland due to injury. They took 19 shots while Palace only had five. However, Palace managed to score with both of the shots that they aimed correctly.

Guardiola dismissed the idea that his team had slowed down and believed they still strove for additional goals even after taking a 2-0 lead early in the second half.

Guardiola commented that just as they were outstanding in the matches against Tottenham and Liverpool resulting in a 3-3 draw and 1-1 draw respectively, they were once again incapable of securing a victory.

You noticed how many opportunities we made and how many we allowed our opponents to have. Besides the match against Chelsea, where there were eight goals scored, it was similar to our other games this season. However, we are struggling to finish off and secure a win.

We defended very well during the game and didn't let them score until later when our team had a slip-up and they had a chance to take advantage. However, before that point, they didn't really make any significant plays or score opportunities.

The squad performed well overall, but when a penalty was given against them, it felt reminiscent of when we gave up a penalty to Chelsea and didn't deserve the victory."

In the end, it all boils down to having patience and not giving in to the opponent's transition. This is a strategy that we have been following for nearly a decade in games like this.

However, in the initial move, they ran and successfully scored a goal. Later, during injury time, we gave them a penalty. It's important to exercise caution when in your 18-yard box, but unfortunately, we failed to do so.

Under Guardiola's leadership since 2016, City has accumulated their lowest total of 34 points after playing 17 games. This is the first instance where they have not been among the top three at this stage while under his guidance.

They may fall behind in the rankings soon since they are off to Saudi Arabia for the upcoming Fifa Club World Cup. They're set to compete against the Japanese team Urawa Red Diamonds in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

Should Liverpool emerge victorious in their upcoming three matches, the gap between them and Guardiola's team will increase to a significant 12 points before the latter embarks on their next Premier League game against Everton on 27 December, although they still have two matches left to play.

Guardiola expressed that it would be preferable to embark on a lengthy flight that brings forth positive outcomes, spanning around six or seven hours.

We only have 72 hours to recuperate, and following that, we have a mere 72 hours before a possible championship game [on December 22]. Yet, there's no changing the situation.

Currently, we're in a negative state and need to quickly prepare ourselves for the Middle East and participate in the competition there.