Pep Guardiola went through the full range of emotions as Manchester City fought back from an early 2-0 deficit to beat Crystal Palace 5-2 at home on Saturday, as City’s dreams of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League are on track.
City were 2-0 down after a sloppy start but they came roaring back with four unanswered goals as Kevin de Bruyne, Omar Marmoush, Mateo Kovacic and James McAtee all on the scoresheet.
Guardiola’s City are right in the hunt for Champions League qualification and any dropped points between now and the end of the season could be costly.
That was why they celebrated this comeback win against Palace wildly.
Pep Guardiola reaction to Manchester City’s huge comeback win against Crystal Palace
“I would say we played really good all game. We were 2-0 down and we created a lot and I said at half time we were playing good,” Guardiola told BBC Match of the Day. “Our momentum was sparked with a free-kick from Kevin and after that we played a really good game considering we were 2-0 down and considering how Crystal Palace have been in the past games.”
What was the inspiration: “Kevin with the free kick changed the momentum. I think we start really well... After the free kick from Kev it changed our momentum. If you see the chances we had we could have scored eight or nine easily. The work ethic and the way we played was really good.”
On being in the top four: “We’ll see tomorrow the position, it will be so tight. It will be until the end. Six games left, difficult games.”
On Ederson’s injury: “He had some disturbance in the past few months and it appeared again today. It is what it is, six finals and the FA Cup and we will recover the players.”
On what pleased him the most: “The three points! In the end it is a business but many things. We attack really well against a defensive, 4-5-1, a transition team. When you accelerate the game it is really difficult. We play with a good composure. Really pleased.”
Kevin de Bruyne reaction to BBC Match of the Day
On the crazy game: “I think we started well had a couple of chances. Out of nowhere we were 2-0 down and it could have been three. But the response was good. I thought overall we played pretty much a good game. We gave two to three chances away and they pounced on them. The feeling was a bit weird but the reaction was really good and I think in the end we deserved to win.”
On his goal coming at an important time: “I think it was important to score as quick as possible to change the feeling of the game. It changed a bit and then also scoring the second one quite quickly and then we went from there... If you can score quickly the third one and the fourth was pretty quick it changes a bit. Obviously the fifth just kills the game.”
On importance of different goalscorers with no Haaland, Foden: “I think so, obviously with Erling being out we know he’s our main goalscorer but there’s nothing we can do about it. We try and chip in and we created a lot of chances today and scoring five helps.”
On his more advanced position today: “Obviously it was a bit the same to United but we were struggling a bit more to create. Today we found the spaces and created more. We were a bit more aggressive than last week. We build on that and it was nice... For me I’m just so happy that the last month I’m feeling so much better. The pain went away. The difference for me to play pain free is night and day. I am happy I can help the team. The job is not done and we need to qualify for the Champions League.”
On savoring the moment of this final few home games as a City player: “I want to go away with Champions League for this team. They deserve it. We’ve been in it for the 9-10 year I’ve been here so I hope we can do it for the team next year and I just try to play good football like I’ve always done.”
