Man City boss Pep Guardiola spoke after 1-1 draw against Everton
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has praised his side for a “brilliant” performance, despite drawing 1-1 against Everton on Boxing Day.
The Catalan coach was once again left wondering where his side's next victory would come from after Bernardo Silva's early goal was canceled out by Iliman Ndiaye.
Erling Haaland then missed a second-half penalty to extend his worrying drought in front of goal as City lost two valuable points at the Etihad.
The result now leaves City 11 points behind leaders Liverpool, who have two games in hand and will play later on Boxing Day.
Despite another disappointing result, Guardiola had nothing but positive words for his players after being pleased with their efforts.
“The first half was brilliant, the first 10, 15 minutes [of the second-half] until Man City's penalty was really good,” Guardiola told Amazon Prime Sport.
“The first time they came, they scored a goal. Of course, at the end of the transition we could suffer defeat. But when you analyze the result, of course we are not happy.
Erling Haaland's penalty was saved by Jordan Pickford
“But the performance and what we did, the guys again, in the situation we found ourselves in, was brilliant. Of course we're not scoring the goals we need to.”
Guardiola's men are now without a win in their last four league matches and their only taste of victory since the start of November was their 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest.
The absences of key players such as Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, Kyle Walker and captain Ruben Dias have left huge holes to fill in City's squad. But Guardiola admits he does not know when he will have them available again.
Pep Guardiola's side have won just once in eight Premier League matches
“I don’t know, at the moment I don’t know,” he said.
When asked what City needed to do differently ahead of their crucial clash against Leicester City on Sunday, Guardiola smiled and said: “Recovery is in a few days, we have to recover.
“We go there with the best mentality possible, that’s what we have to do.”
The champions now appear to be all but out of the title race with Liverpool slipping further away, but the race for a top four finish could become even trickier with Chelsea, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa all competing.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1993200/Pep-Guardiola-Man-City-Everton