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Topics: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Premier League, England, Football
Adnan Riaz
Topics: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Premier League, England, Football
Pep Guardiola ‘channelled his inner Jurgen Klopp’ after the Manchester City manager blamed his side’s goalless draw against Crystal Palace on the grass.
The defending champions of England produced a dominant display against Palace on Monday evening at Selhurst Park.
However, City were unable to break the deadlock against Patrick Vieira’s men and were forced to settle for a draw, blowing the Premier League title race wide open.
Guardiola’s side sit four points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, but Klopp’s men have a match in hand and can narrow City’s lead.
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City and Liverpool will clash in a huge Premier League showdown at the Etihad on 10th April, which could prove to be a pivotal moment in the title race.
Speaking after the 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park, Guardiola praised City for their performance on the night and believes his side should have won.
However, the 51-year-old Spaniard also blamed the conditions of the grass during his post-match interview.
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“We would have preferred to win of course but the game was well played,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“We played to win the game, we created more, the stats were there.
“The way we played was amazing in a difficult stadium with the grass not perfect, we were there all the time, we had a good game.”
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Fans took to social media and accused Guardiola of taking a page from the playbook of Klopp, who has often been blasted for making ‘bizarre excuses’ after Liverpool matches.
City star Bernardo Silva has claimed that his side are still the favourites to retain the Premier League title, with Liverpool still needing to travel to the Etihad for next month’s clash.
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“It was a tough game, we actually played well, we controlled the game apart from one or two times. We couldn’t score and we should’ve scored,” he said.
“Nine games to go, but it’s still better to be in our position than in Liverpool’s and they have to play in our stadium so it’s going to be exciting.
“It’s never easy to play at any team away in the Premier League. It’s always better to win than draw and we wanted to have an advantage of six points over Liverpool.”