**Pep Guardiola has insisted that the ongoing season is one that Manchester City supporters will have to ‘suffer’ throughout, speaking after their latest dropped points.**
The Premier League champions had been hoping to build together a winning run of form following the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in midweek at the Etihad Stadium, but came back down to earth with a struggling showing in London.
Daniel Munoz had put Oliver Glasner’s side ahead inside the opening five minutes before Erling Haaland would connect with a Matheus Nunes cross to head home an equaliser to take the scoring level into the half-time interval.
The second-half would bring more end-to-end action and Maxence Lacroix would dominate Kyle Walker from an attacking corner to head home and move Palace back into the advantage. City would fight back once more however, with Rico Lewis slotting home an excellent goal.
The latest dropped points for Manchester City leaves them trailing their title rivals by a relatively notable margin and sitting fourth in the Premier League table after 15 matches played this season.
Speaking after City’s 2-2 draw away to Crystal Palace, Pep Guardiola insisted that not only can he nor his players talk about the Premier League title race given their current position, but that the ongoing season will bring ‘suffering’.
“It’s a season to suffer,” Guardiola told reporters at Selhurst Park. He continued, “We cannot talk about the (Premier League) title race when we lose four games in a row and draw.”
Guardiola did feel it was right to praise the character and performance of his Premier League champions against Crystal Palace however, as he said, “The players, again, showed how good they are.”
Pep Guardiola will need to immediately find fresh solutions in the UEFA Champions League too, with Manchester City winless in their last two outings and finding themselves towards the bottom end of the league table.
Juventus are the club’s next opponents when the pair meet at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, before City return to England to pull together and prepare for their first Manchester derby meeting with Ruben Amorim’s United side at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.