Man City dropped points again and as their poor form continued with a 2-2 draw
Pep Guardiola confessed he believes his side's struggles will continue this season
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By RIATH AL-SAMARRAI
Published: 14:51 EST, 7 December 2024 | Updated: 14:51 EST, 7 December 2024
Pep Guardiola predicted Man City's difficulties will drag on for the entire season after their slim title prospects suffered further damage with a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
Having been given a chance to eat into Liverpool’s lead after the postponement of the Merseyside derby, City were instead grateful for a point from a game in which they twice trailed and ended with 10 men following Rico Lewis’s late red card.
Guardiola, whose side have won only once in nine games in all competitions, said: ‘The season started difficult and it will be difficult all season so we have to survive this season and every game try to take points and win games and then go forward.
‘We know it we feel it and unfortunately we are missing important players for us this season for the next game at home against [Manchester] United.’
Despite sitting eight points behind Liverpool, and turning in a poor performance at Selhurst Park, Guardiola said he was ‘proud’ of his injury-hit squad.
He added: ‘In general, what they have done in the circumstances is really, really good. We knew from the beginning that everything was wrong and unlucky in many things and we have to continue with that with the players we have at our disposal. We go to the Champions League [against Juventus on Wednesday] to win and try to do well and take our results.
After Saturday result, Man City have now won just one of their last nine games in all competitions
They lie fourth in the Premier League table and trail league leaders Liverpool by eight points
Liverpool have a game in hand over City, meaning they could extend the gap to double digits
‘We had seven potential starting eleven players injured, and a lot of players with minutes, and the physicality of Crystal Palace is there, but we were there and we did everything to try to win. I'm really proud and pleased.’
Bernardo Silva’s assessment was more downbeat. He said: ‘With Man City it's always two points lost. One point is better than zero but we're not happy at the moment. We know our situation with injuries. Coming to Crystal Palace is never easy but we have to do better.
‘When I finish a game and I get a point I'm not happy. It's not the way we built this team, it's not our standard. We know how tough it is to come here when we have all our squad and we're in top form. We have to do better, we have to react better to the second balls. We have to give them less opportunities on set-pieces.
‘We created a few chances and that wasn't our problem because we scored two. We're in December. We'd like to be in a different position. If we recover our players quickly we can always do it. But right now our concern is a different one. If we're fourth or fifth we have to look at winning the next game. The last month and a half have not been good enough.’