Guardiola blasts careless Man City: Didn’t deserve to win

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola blasted his team after their reckless defending and a needless late penalty cost them a well-deserved victory in a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday, saying that they deserved the result.

“It’s not bad luck, it’s deserved,” Guardiola told angry reporters after the match. “We give away two points. When you give away that penalty, you deserve it. You see the chances we have created and conceded, it's quite similar to all of them this season – but we are not able to close out games. C 'is the feeling.'

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City looked unusually vulnerable after a run of six games with just one win.

Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis scored in the first half at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, but Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled one back for Palace, then Michael Olise converted a penalty in the 95th minute after Phil Foden fouled Mateta in the surface.

The draw left the three-time winners fourth in the title fight on 34 points, but City have played one game more than the three teams above them: Liverpool, who are top on 37 points, Arsenal and Aston Villa, all of whom play on Sunday.

“At the end of the day, be patient and don't concede transitions and don't concede,” Guardiola said of the disappointing result.

“But of course, during the first action [Palace] run and score a goal and at the last minute we give them [a penalty]. In the penalty area you have to be careful and we weren't. We don't deserve to win.”

City have dropped nine points this season by conceding goals after the 80th minute.

Adding to the team's misery is the absence of the league's top scorer, Erling Haaland, who has been sidelined for two consecutive Premier League games due to a stress reaction in his foot, which could progress to a more serious stress fracture.

The 23-year-old striker has 14 league goals this season.