Pep Guardiola was all smiles after the disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Everton on Saturday afternoon, leaving fans baffled as they slipped up yet again in the title race
Manchester City fans were left fuming at Pep Guardiola’s post-match comments after a dismal 1-1 draw to Everton.
City went 1-0 up in the 24th minute courtesy of a brilliant first-time finish by Erling Haaland. The Premier League champions had several chances to put the game out of sight but were left sucker-punched by Demarai Gray’s spectacular second half strike.
Guardiola’s side had to settle for just a point in the end as their play left plenty to be desired compared to the free-flowing attacking football which won them the 2021/22 title. Yet the Spaniard was all smiles in his strangely positive post-match interview.
Guardiola said: “We played a really, really, really good game. The result was not expected, but it’s football. We did everything to win…
“Of course we were sad because we didn’t win but overall play was great. If you see the game, we were better.”
His comments jarred with sections of the City support online, as they saw a clear difference between Guardiola’s tone and what they had watched unfold on their screens. And it led to some harsh words towards their four-time title winning manager.
One Twitter user wrote: “Did he watch the same game we did?” while another tweeted: “This Pep guy is a fraud”
A third said: “An absolute disgrace of a game, no hunger to win, just going on with vibes.”
Others pointed out that Guardiola was merely hiding his disappointment from the media, tweeting: “Pep in his most sarcastic of moods I see. We were absolutely frigging dreadful, and that’s being kind. And we didn’t do nearly enough to win.”
And another added: “People don’t realise Pep says this in his interview, but he isn’t saying this in the dressing room.”
The manager immediately left fans puzzled by leaving Joao Cancelo and Phil Foden on the bench to start with. In addition to individual lacklustre performances, the City faithful were frustrated by the Spaniard only opting to make changes 87 minutes in.
City now trail title rivals Arsenal by seven points after the Gunners beat Brighton 4-2 away from home. No team has ever squandered the Premier League after being seven points clear.