Guardiola ´so proud´ of Man City despite Palace draw

Pep Guardiola saluted Manchester City’s fight and insisted he is “so proud of the team”, despite them dropping more points in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.

City were forced to come from behind in each half at Selhurst Park, where Erling Haaland and Rico Lewis cancelled out efforts from Daniel Munoz and Maxence Lacroix.

The reigning Premier League champions are now winless in their last four away games, while they have won just one of their last nine matches in all competitions.

City sit fourth in the table and eight points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand after their scheduled Merseyside Derby against Everton was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

Nevertheless, Guardiola paid tribute to his players.

Assessing the performance, he said: “Really good. So proud of the team. I liked everything about the team, how we fought. We have a lot of problems with our squad.

“We fought incredibly. We came back twice. It’s a difficult place to come. We struggled in the beginning. We gave everything, and we take a point.

“We started the second half a bit sloppy. After [going 2-1 down], we reacted well.”

Thank you for your brilliant support yet againpic.twitter.com/6gdy8ATGlz

— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 7, 2024

However, Bernardo Silva could not hide his frustration at City’s recent poor form.

“With Man City it’s always two points lost,” he told BBC Sport. “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 have to do better, we have to react better to the second balls. We have to give them less opportunities from set-pieces.

“We’re in December. We’d like to be in a different position. The last month-and-a-half has not been good enough.”

Meanwhile, Palace moved up to 16th after extending their unbeaten run to four matches, and Oliver Glasner felt the Eagles were unfortunate not to take maximum points.

“We are pleased with the point and many parts of the performance,” he said. “It feels like if we’d performed at our best level, we could have won the game.

“An unbeaten week with draws against Newcastle and Manchester City, everything is fine. We want to improve and get better in some situations, and we could win those games.

“After having the lead twice, especially after 2-1, we got too passive. It’s not that easy against City, it’s not a criticism of the players, but when you’re in your own third, it’s a matter of time. A gap of one yard, they find it with one or two touches.

“The players are in a very good situation and shape. We have more and more options. The results give us confidence.”