Pep Guardiola insists his side are the worst team in the Premier League when it comes to defending set-pieces after Man City drew 2-2 against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Citizens continued their poor run of form in recent weeks at Selhurst Park with Guardiola’s side winning just once in nine matches in all competitions.
Daniel Munoz and Maxence Lacroix scored for the Eagles on Saturday afternoon as Erling Haaland and Rico Lewis – who was sent off late on – helped Man City hit back twice to give Guardiola’s side a share of the spoils.
That point means defending champions Man City remain fourth in the Premier League table and are eight points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand after their Merseyside Derby against Everton was postponed.
Speaking after their latest slip-up, Guardiola said: “Football is a game of mistakes.
“For the good things, we scored two fantastic goals, of course in the set-pieces right now they are stronger than us, every single team.
“So we try to concede few, but in general the game was there, coming back in this stadium is not easy, we tried, I’m really pleased for many things also.”
It now seems unlikely that Man City will mount a title challenge this season and when asked about their chances, Guardiola added: “I’ve said many times we cannot talk about that.
“We lost four games in a row, now we draw. Step by step, try to win the next game, recover people and we’ll see in the last month.”
When asked if Man City are now back on the right track after their last result was a win against Nottingham Forest, Guardiola continued: “Well, I would say we would have to play more games to be consistent but it’s difficult with the situation that we have.
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“I’m really pleased for the players, they fought and everything. I’m really pleased to work with them.”
On the match in general, Guardiola said: “We take the point. I’m proud of the players for how they fought and came back twice in difficult conditions – for both sides, not just for us.
“But we fought hard as always, and we’ll take the point.
“We played the last 15 minutes with 10 versus 11. We have many important players injured – many players with many minutes but the physicality is there – but we were there, and we did everything we could to win, and I am so pleased and proud of the players.
“Football is a game of mistakes and for the good things – we made two fantastic goals, but they are stronger than us at set-pieces – every single team is at the moment.
“But in general, the game was there, we tried, we fight, and I was very pleased about many things I saw.”