SOUTHAMPTON, England :Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said dropping points against bottom side Southampton in a 0-0 Premier League draw on Saturday will result in a nervy final two games of the season in his side’s pursuit of a Champions League place for next season.
Southampton’s hard-earned point not only means they avoid being the joint-worst team in Premier League history but also a tougher finish for City, who must hold off the chasing pack of Newcastle United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
“The result, of course, it’s a missed opportunity today, we know that,” said Guardiola, who failed to beat a bottom team for the first time in his nine seasons at City.
“It happened. Now, prepare the (FA Cup) final, less time (for) Bournemouth and then Fulham,” he added, with City playing Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on May 17 at Wembley.
“We have three games left – the FA Cup and two games in the Premier League and I didn’t expect anything different from one month ago in that we will need to fight until the end.”
City had won four straight league matches and were poised to move level on points with second-placed Arsenal but the momentum stalled at St Mary’s. They are only two points above the three teams below them in the battle for a top-five finish.
While Southampton have conceded a Premier League-high 82 goals this season, they kept City out by defending in numbers, which drew criticism from Guardiola and defender Ruben Dias.
“It was difficult,” Guardiola said. “Eleven players on the penalty spot. I didn’t expect they would defend so, so deep. Defensively we were brilliant. But we missed the last actions that break the result.”
Dias echoed his manager’s view.
“It’s frustrating to play a team like that,” he said. “They didn’t want to play. Just wasting time the whole game.”
One positive was the return of Erling Haaland, who missed six weeks with injury. The Norwegian, who remains third in the league’s scoring chart with 21 goals, played until the end.
“We didn’t expect him to play 90,” Guardiola said. “But the way the game was going, we needed people in the box.”
