Pep Guardiola said Manchester City deserved to drop two points for their carelessness in conceding a late penalty that gave Crystal Palace the equaliser in Saturday’s 2-2 draw, with the champions’ manager clear they have to lift their mood instantly for the Club World Cup.
Goals from Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis had put City 2-0 ahead before Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled one back in the 76th minute. After Phil Foden’s clumsy kick of Mateta on 94 minutes, Paul Tierney awarded a penalty that Michael Olise converted.
Guardiola said: “It’s not bad luck, it’s deserved. We give away two points. When you give away this penalty, you deserve it. We are not able to close the games. That is the feeling.”
City have conceded in the 80th minute or later to draw with Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea recently, as wells as losing to Arsenal. Guardiola referenced three of these results.
“It’s like the penalty against Chelsea,” he said. “We don’t deserve it. We were excellent, like against Liverpool and Spurs, but we were not able to win the games so we are not consistent enough to close the games for many reasons.”
Guardiola bristled when it was suggested City had eased off. “I don’t agree with you,” he said. “We played the same. At the end, maybe we needed more movement from other players in the final third. But in the first action they run and score a goal [Jean-Philippe Mateta’s] and in the last minute we give them [the penalty]. In the 18-yard box you have to be careful and we weren’t.”
On Tuesday, City take on Urawa Red Diamonds at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium in Saudi Arabia in the Club World Cup semi-final. “The seven-hour flight would be better with a [winning] result but it is what it is,” Guardiola said. “Now we are down and we [have to] lift as quick as possible to go and compete there.”
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Roy Hodgson, who was without nine experienced squad members, praised his team. “We changed our system to get our 11 senior players on the field,” he said. “If I had decided to go with a back four I would have to leave [Joel] Ward or [Nathaniel] Clyne off the field.
“I was really pleased with the team from the first minute to the last. The way the players stuck to a gameplan and tried to make it work and caused Manchester City a few more problems than they are used to.
“It doesn’t matter if the team we are playing against on paper is regarded as a stronger team, we know we can make a good game of it.”
