Pep Guardiola has urged his Manchester City flops to make use of the ache from their shock FA Cup closing defeat as gas to salvage their dismal season by qualifying for the Champions League.
Guardiola’s aspect will end with out main silverware for the primary time in eight years after crashing to a 1-0 defeat in opposition to Crystal Palace at Wembley on Saturday.
Eberechi Eze’s Sixteenth-minute strike and Dean Henderson’s penalty save from Omar Marmoush late within the first half condemned troubled City to the newest setback of their turbulent season.
Henderson made a collection of excellent stops to disclaim City, who claimed the goalkeeper ought to have been despatched off after dealing with exterior his space within the first interval.
City’s lack of leading edge was uncovered by Palace’s tactically astute game-plan, leaving Guardiola to survey the wreckage of a wretched marketing campaign that has included his workforce surrendering the Premier League title to Liverpool and crashing out of the Champions League.
The Spaniard believes City can nonetheless partially save face by securing a Top-5 end within the Premier League, which ensures a spot within the Champions League subsequent time period.
They are at present sixth within the desk, one level exterior the Top 5 with a house recreation in opposition to Bournemouth on Tuesday, adopted by a visit to Fulham for his or her final match on May 25.
“We had fixed in the last month the problems we had all season with scoring and conceding. In the last period, we were so stable,” Guardiola mentioned.
“But recently in opposition to Palace and Southampton, we did not create a lot. I’m not saying it’s straightforward. We want good crosses and good folks within the field.
“The recreation plan did not work as a result of we did not win. But I haven’t got any unhealthy feeling about that. We are unhappy as a result of we did not win a wonderful competitors.
“Now we must continue and recover quick for the last two finals we have to play to qualify for the Champions League.”
‘It’s not straightforward’
It was City’s second successive FA Cup closing defeat after shedding final 12 months’s showpiece in opposition to archrivals Manchester United.
Significantly, City striker Erling Haaland’s determination to permit Marmoush to take the penalty was indicative of the Norwegian’s insecurity at current.
Haaland has failed to attain in any of his six Wembley appearances for City, a barren streak together with three FA Cup finals and one semifinal.
The former Borussia Dortmund star, who has 30 targets in 42 video games in all competitions this time period, additionally failed to attain in City’s Champions League closing win in opposition to Inter Milan and their UEFA Super Cup victory over Sevilla.
Facing a Palace workforce content material to take a seat deep and frustrate City, Haaland had few clear sights of purpose.
But Guardiola should discover a approach to enhance the provision strains to his main scorer if City are to complete within the high 5.
At Wembley, City repeatedly turned to Kevin De Bruyne to prise open the well-drilled Palace protection.
But, enjoying in his final closing for City earlier than leaving within the close-season, the Belgian midfielder’s inconsistent show confirmed why Guardiola is keen to let him go as accidents and age take their toll.
“I expect, again, in that way, I want Kevin in that position to deliver some balls. Unfortunately, we could not find him in the position that we wanted,” he mentioned.
Guardiola is clinging to the hope that City can mount one final push, saying: “We performed significantly better, for instance, than once we beat Palace 5-2 in April.
“We have been significantly better than final season once we misplaced in opposition to United within the closing. Today, we did all the things.
“We had the possession to create chances, we could create more, yeah, but it’s not easy, I’ve said that, it’s not easy with 11 players there (in defense).”
Source: www.dailysabah.com