Pep Guardiola is insistent that Manchester City cannot talk about the Premier League title race – and contends they need to see if they’re still in contention at the end of the season. City’s woeful run of form continued unabated as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace. The current champions had to battle from behind twice, with Erling Haaland and Rico Lewis on target in south London.
City had the chance to put pressure on leaders Liverpool after the Merseyside derby against Everton was postponed earlier in the afternoon due to safety concerns amid Storm Darragh. But they failed to take advantage and have now picked up just four points in their previous six league games. The Etihad Stadium side, who have won the past four titles, are eight points behind Arne Slot’s Reds, who now have a game in hand.
Speaking to BBC Sport, City manager Guardiola said: “We take a point. We fought incredible and came back twice. It’s a season to suffer. We’ll see what happens in the last month. We tried. Big compliment for the opponent. “We cannot talk about the title race when we lose four games in a row and draw. We’ll try to recover players. We’ll see in the last month. We have to do more games to be consistent. It’s difficult in the situation we have. I’m really pleased for the players – they fought and did everything.”
City have been plagued with injury issues this season, with Phil Foden, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Rodri, Mateus Kovacic and Oscar Bobb missing against Palace. On top of that, Rico Lewis will be suspended for next weekend’s clash against Manchester United in the derby, after being sent-off at Selhurst Park for two yellow cards.
“We struggled in the beginning. We gave everything and we take a point,” Guardiola added to Sky Sports.
“Long balls, second balls, they’re stronger than us. We started the second half a bit sloppy. After 2-1 we reacted well. We lost another player defensively for the next game for a second yellow card.”