Pep Guardiola says Crystal Palace was exceptionally clinical in its 3-2 defeat of Man City on Saturday, and that his men helped the visitors with a terrible conceded penalty.
[ RECAP: Man City 2-3 Palace ]
City enters Christmas four points back of leaders Liverpool, and Guardiola’s men are not looking like the beasts we’ve so often seen in City blue over the past 16 months.
Part of that comes down to Kyle Walker, who may rue watching the highlights of this one even beyond his conceded penalty.
He had a rough game starting with the room he allowed Jeffrey Schlupp for Palace’s opener, and was especially poor when he chopped down Max Meyer in the box for what would stand as the decisive goal for Palace when Luka Milivojevic converted the chance to make it 3-1 for the Eagles.
“The third goal ... We cannot concede the penalty we conceded. We have to try and avoid it. Football is like this. Three shots on goal and three goals.
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“There are a lot of games to play. We have to recover mentally and recover our physicality.”
City next heads to the road for matches at Leicester City and Southampton, two sides who won on Saturday, while Liverpool hosts Newcastle United and Arsenal.