LONDON, Dec 14 : Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola hailed his side’s resilience against Crystal Palace, as his players weathered an early storm to win 3-0 on Sunday, but said City were not yet the finished article despite cutting the gap to league leaders Arsenal.
Erling Haaland scored at the end of a first half in which Palace created the better chances, in a mirror image of May’s FA Cup final that the Eagles won to leave Guardiola without a trophy for only the second time in his career.
City rode their luck slightly before Phil Foden doubled the lead with 20 minutes left and Haaland added the gloss at the end, with the scoreline flattering a performance Guardiola described as “ruthless” but which left room for improvement.
After their unexpected slump last season, following four Premier League titles in a row, Guardiola said his team are “not ready” to reach their previous dizzying heights.
But he welcomed his side’s ability to absorb pressure and convert their chances, which had deserted them last term.
“It was an incredible lesson for us,” Guardiola said of last season. “For me personally, it was an incredible lesson. But, despite that, we got to the final of the FA Cup and we finished third.”
He added: “So many things are going to happen inside of the locker room and many things you have to improve.
“They give me a lot of signals that still we are not ready in terms of – not mentality, I would say, in terms of how we’ve got to approach certain games, but because they are young, some players.
“But of course we are really, really pleased because I know how tough (Palace) are and (winning) 0-3 here is a good statement for us.”
Guardiola also pushed back on suggestions City’s grittiness at times this season is a new quality, saying: “When you win in the past, you believe that the past is always perfect, always was brilliant, always red carpet, always was easy.”
He added: “For among the things we achieved, we have a lot of games like today and the resilience was part of that … all the managers want to do the best. But there are moments that you struggle.”
