Teamwork makes the dream work

Pep Guardiola explains how Man Metropolis misplaced first Premier League recreation in 11 months

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On the finish of a breathless encounter, Pep Guardiola held his palms up in defeat.

After watching his Manchester Metropolis facet deservedly lose 2-1 to Bournemouth on the south coast on Saturday, the membership’s first Premier League reverse since a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa final December, Guardiola was fast to hail the efficiency of his opponents.

“We knew we could not match the depth,” Metropolis’s overwhelmed boss advised the BBC post-game. “We have now talked about it. It was an open recreation. We had probabilities on the finish however I congratulate Bournemouth for the victory.”

Antoine Semenyo fired the hosts in entrance inside the opening ten minutes, however Ederson had already been pressured into two saves 90 seconds after kick off. The hosts hassled, harried and harangued Metropolis, successful the ball again contained in the opposition half seven occasions inside the first half-hour.

“The 50-50 balls within the center, the duels, they play this sort of recreation,” Guardiola sighed. “They’re so aggressive. They’d six-seven days to arrange. They’ve physicality and velocity, however it’s a must to win a majority of these conditions. They usually had probabilities. Ederson made an excellent save.”

Antoine Semenyo

Antoine Semenyo (centre) was in distinctive kind on Saturday / Catherine Ivill – AMA/GettyImages

Metropolis did not have their first shot on track till the eightieth minute, by which period they had been trailing 2-0. Josko Gvardiol quickly halved the deficit, sparking a frantic conclusion as Metropolis had eight pictures within the closing eight minutes. “We had actual good moments in the beginning of the second half and after that it was tough to swallow as we had been good,” Guardiola famous. “After we scored we had momentum and probabilities however could not rating [again].”

When reflecting upon the tip of his crew’s 32-game unbeaten Premier League run, Guardiola wouldn’t blame the numerous health points which Metropolis carried into the sport. The champions had been with out Ruben Dias, John Stones or Jack Grealish, whereas Oscar Bobb and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri stay long-term absentees.

Guardiola referred to as on his gamers to push by the ache barrier forward of Saturday’s fixture and later admitted that Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker weren’t 100% match. Nonetheless, the Catalan coach refused to lean upon this as an excuse. “It’s what it’s,” he shrugged.

“We have now few gamers with numerous minutes and numerous gamers with no minutes to the stability is a bit uncomfortable. We performed good in opposition to Spurs however immediately we couldn’t deal with their depth that they’d and that is why we misplaced the sport.”

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