Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola refused to panic on Monday, after his team wasted a host of chances in a damaging 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace that severely dented their bid to retain the English Premier League title.
Guardiola’s side had 18 shots and 74 percent of the possession, but left Selhurst Park ruing a series of misses on a significant night in the title race.
Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte were guilty of the most glaring miscues, with Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita keeping the leaders at bay with several saves.
Photo: AFP
With second-placed Liverpool having won at Brighton on Saturday, City are now just four points clear of manager Juergen Klopp’s team. Liverpool can close to within one point of City if they win their game in hand at fourth-placed Arsenal today.
Yet Guardiola showed no signs of losing his cool as he insisted he was happy with City’s performance and their position in the title battle.
“We played a good game and created a lot of chances, but couldn’t convert. Sometimes it happens,” he said.
“I would prefer to have won, of course, but the way we played was amazing in a difficult stadium with the grass not perfect,” he said. “There are many games still to play. We have to win a lot, but the way we played, no regrets about the team.”
Given Liverpool’s red-hot form, the stalemate in south London could tip the balance of power toward them. Liverpool have been so relentless that City need to be perfect to hold them off, and this draw, together with a recent defeat against Tottenham Hotspur, have left them vulnerable.
“Luck doesn’t exist in football. We have to score goals and we didn’t do it,” Guardiola said.
After making a host of changes for the goalless UEFA Champions League tie against Sporting Lisbon last week, Guardiola recalled Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez as he reverted to the lineup that dominated the Manchester derby.
Guardiola said that City were treating the match like “a final,” because of the threat posed by Palace, who beat them 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium in October last year.
Mahrez tried to set the tone when he cut inside to the edge of the Palace area for a curling effort that whistled past the far post.
Silva should have put the champions ahead after Guaita spilled De Bruyne’s blast, but rather than shoot, he elected to dribble round the Palace goalkeeper and watched as the ball rolled out for a goal-kick.
In a spell-binding period of City pressure, John Stones was inches away with a long rocket that deflected wide, while Mahrez tested Guaita with a low drive.
De Bruyne hooked an audacious effort over his shoulder, forcing Guaita to palm away, before Laporte produced an awful miss.
Joao Cancelo’s fierce strike cannoned back off the post to the unmarked Laporte, who had the goal at his mercy, but somehow shot high over the bar from close range.
Guaita saved again from Mahrez, who also shot narrowly wide at the end of a one-sided first half.
Soon after the interval, De Bruyne hit the post from an acute angle before Mahrez fired the rebound over.
Guardiola held his head in his hands after Silva stretched but failed to reach Jack Grealish’s cross as it flashed across goal.
City had no answer to Palace’s massed defense, and by the time Grealish’s shot was blocked, City appeared resigned to their fate. In a fitting finale, Laporte could only head De Bruyne’s free-kick tamely at Guaita.
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