At the end of a breathless encounter, Pep Guardiola raised his hands in defeat.
After watching his Manchester City team deservedly lose 2-1 at Bournemouth on the south coast on Saturday, the club’s first Premier League setback since a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa last December, Guardiola was quick to hail the performance of his opponents.
“We knew we couldn’t match the intensity,” said the City boss BBC post game “We talked about it. It was an open game. We had chances at the end but I congratulate Bournemouth for the win.”
Antoine Semenyo fired the hosts in front inside the first ten minutes, but Ederson had already been forced into two saves 90 seconds into the game. Hosts annoyed, fouled and harangued cityrecovering the ball inside the opponent’s half seven times in the first half hour.
“The 50-50 balls in the middle, the duels, they make that kind of game,” Guardiola he sighed “They are very aggressive. They had six-seven days to prepare. They have physicality and speed, but you have to win these types of situations. And they had chances. Ederson made a good save.”
City did not have the first shot on target until the 80th minute, when they were losing 2-0. Josko Guardiol soon halved the deficit, sparking a frantic finish as City hit eight shots in the last eight minutes. “We had very good moments at the beginning of the second half and then it was difficult for us to swallow because we were good,” Guardiola said. “After we scored we had momentum and chances but we couldn’t score (again).”
Reflecting on the end of his side’s 32-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, Guardiola would not blame the various fitness issues that City brought into the game. The champions were without Ruben Dias, John Stones or Jack Grealish, while Oscar Bobb and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri remain long-term absentees.
Guardiola appealed to his players pass through the pain barrier before Saturday’s game and later admitted that Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker were not 100% fit. However, the Catalan coach refused to rely on it as an excuse. “It is what it is,” he shrugged.
“We have few players with many minutes and many players without minutes for the balance is a bit uncomfortable. We played well against Spurs but today we could not withstand the intensity they had and that’s why we lost the game.”
