‘It can’t happen’ – Man City star rues one moment in Everton draw; Guardiola lauds ‘incredible’ player
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola was pretty pleased with his side’s performance in the 1-1 draw against Everton, claiming they “played really good”.
Man City are going through a crisis as they have only won one of their previous 13 matches in all competitions.
Guardiola’s team had a chance to return to winning ways on Boxing Day as they hosted Premier League strugglers Everton at the Etihad.
City benefitted from a slice of good luck as Bernardo Silva’s deflected effort nestled in the bottom corner inside the opening 15 minutes.
Man City were unable to kick on, though. Everton remained in the game and Iliman Ndiaye produced a clinical finish to level the match before the break.
Erling Haaland later had a penalty saved as Man City’s woes intensified en route to dropping more points in the Premier League. They are currently 17th in the form table.
Guardiola tried to claim positives from this match as they were “really good and patient” with their play.
“The team played really good. I don’t know how many shots we had on goal. They score a goal at the end,” Guardiola said post-match.
“We were very patient. We make crosses and crosses. I think we were patient. That’s the momentum of the season and run we are in. It takes more time to make it work.
“Kyle [Walker] was [out with] flu. Virus. Jack [Grealish] yesterday in training felt something muscular. Similar reason why Ederson doesn’t feel good. Nathan [Ake] made an incredible effort. Thank you so much for the effort he has done. He needs a little more. I said when you feel fatigued, let us know.
“The first half was controlled and the second half was more difficult because it was more transitional. We have a game in three days and you know what you need to do.”
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Guardiola added: “We played really good but we are in the period right now that is what happens, we create, we concede the first time arrive. But yeah, keep going,” Guardiola added.
“The performance against that team was really good offensively and defensively. We shot a lot inside the 18-yard box but unfortunately couldn’t get the result we wanted.”
On Man City’s next match against Leicester, he continued: “Now is time to recover and go there with the best mentality as possible. That is what we have to do.”
Man City came close to conceding in stoppage time as Everton failed to make the most of a one-sided counter-attack. Defender Manuel Akanji admitted this “can’t happen”.
“I think we did way more for the game. We created lots of chances, unfortunately we were only able to score one goal and we conceded one out of nothing but that is how football is,” Akanji said.
“This was a game today we were able to score three or four goals, but they didn’t go in but then to be honest with you it can’t happen that we nearly lose in the last minute.
“We are trying to attack but I think it was like a six versus two in front of our goal. We still need to believe to the last moment that we can win the match.”
