Pep Guardiola bemoans lack of focus as Manchester City endure further setbacks in Premier League title race
Manchester City's title hopes hit a snag as they squandered a two-goal lead against Crystal Palace, leaving Pep Guardiola frustrated with his team's lack of focus and costly mistakes
Manchester City appeared to be on their way to victory against Crystal Palace on Saturday. However, with less than 15 minutes left in regular time, the Premier League champions' afternoon took a turn for the worse. Palace scored two goals, pulling one back and then scoring another deep into injury time after City had conceded a careless penalty.
City's 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, with two late goals against them, resulted in a loss of two more points in the Premier League title race. After a record-setting season last year, the club is currently in fourth place in the Premier League table, trailing league leaders Liverpool by three points, with Liverpool having a game in hand.
Guardiola later stated, "It's not bad luck, it's what we deserve. We let two points slip away. When you concede a penalty, it's because you deserve it. Our creation and concession of chances are consistent with what we've seen all season, but we struggle to finish games. That's how it feels."
Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis scored for City, giving them a 2-0 lead before Jean-Philippe Mateta brought Crystal Palace back into contention.
In the 94th minute, Phil Foden's untimely challenge on Mateta resulted in a penalty, which was successfully converted by Michael Olise, resulting in a 2-2 draw. Manchester City has been consistently conceding late goals, with Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, and Chelsea all scoring late goals to equalize this season, and Arsenal to win.
City has won one of its last six league games.
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
This pattern is a stark contrast to City's previous dominance, when they won the treble last year—only the second English team ever to achieve this—and claimed five of the last six league titles.
However, following their success in European football and finally securing the elusive Champions League trophy, there is a growing sentiment that fatigue may have played a role in the team's decreased performance this year.
The recent loss to Palace on Saturday indicates that City has only won one of their last six league games.
According to the club's website, Guardiola stated, "The team performed well, but giving Crystal Palace a penalty that we didn't deserve in the end is disappointing. It's reminiscent of the Chelsea penalty, which we didn't deserve to win either. Whether it's the games against Spurs, Liverpool, or today, our performance was excellent, yet we were unable to secure a win. This inconsistency in closing out games is a factor, among many others."
However, there is still over half of the season left to play, and City has always had the capability to elevate their game after Christmas and dominate any competition.
Furthermore, the team's record-breaking striker Erling Haaland is set to return after recovering from a foot injury that caused him to miss the last two games.
But with four teams - Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and City - all within three points of each other at the top of the table, Citys title defense seems increasingly fragile.
