Pep Guardiola slams careless Manchester City players for Crystal Palace draw

Pep Guardiola chastised his Manchester City players for shirking their title-winning responsibilities.

Goals from Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis gave the Manchester City a 2-0 lead over Crystal Palace at home, which they held until the 75th minute. However, sloppy defending allowed Jean-Phillipe Mateta to equalize for the Eagles before Phil Foden unnecessarily gave away a penalty in injury time, which Michael Olise converted to earn a point.

Manchester City has now dropped nine points in the Premier League by conceding goals after the 80th minute, with late goals accounting for 30% of their total for the season. Pep Guardiola thought his team had played well for the majority of the game, but in a harsh verdict, he said they did not deserve to win a game if they couldn’t see it out like they had so many times before.

“At the end, be patient and don’t concede transitions and don’t concede like we have done in seven or eight years in these type of games,” he went on to say. “But, of course, they run and score a goal in the first action, and we give them [a penalty] in the last minute.” You have to be careful in the 18-yard box, and we weren’t. We have no right to win.

“It’s not bad luck; it was earned.” We forfeit two points. You deserve this penalty if you give it away. With the exception of the Chelsea game, the chances we created and conceded are quite similar to the rest of the season – but we are unable to close the games. That’s how I feel.”