‘This cannot happen!’ – Pep Guardiola fumes after Man City throw away two goal lead to draw with Crystal Palace

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola cut a distraught figure after his side blew a two goal lead to draw with struggling Crystal Palace on Saturday.

It finished 2-2 at the Etihad but Man City were expected to steamroll a Crystal Palace side woefully out of form and enduring a terrible injury crisis.

Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis had put the Citizens ahead before the hour mark, with the home side boasting 75% of possession, but Palace stunningly fought back with a Jean-Phillipe Mateta goal setting up a tense finale.

Then, in injury time, Phil Foden fouled Mateta in the box, allowing Michael Olise to score from the spot and deal a bitter blow to Man City’s title defence.

Pep Guardiola’s side are now fourth in the Premier League, three points off the top, with Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa ahead of them all set to play tomorrow.

‘”We gave away two points for our decisions. We conceded the penalty and it was well deserved. This cannot happen but it happened,’ the City boss told Sky Sports.

‘We played a really really good performance, all details were really good. We conceded nothing, defended set-pieces well. Where they are strong, played with patience because they had 10 players behind the ball and it’s not easy.

‘We created more, conceded almost nothing but were not able to win games. It happened against Spurs, against Liverpool. Today we were not able to take points. We cannot do anything else.’

As Pep Guardiola alludes to, Man City have now drawn their last three home games and have won just one of their last six league fixtures – form that they’ll take to the Club World Cup, with the side set to jet off to Saudi Arabia very shortly.

He later added in his post-match press conference: ‘At the end, be patient and don’t concede transitions and don’t concede like we have done in seven or eight years in these type of games.

‘But of course in the first action they run and score a goal and in the last minute we give them [a penalty]. In the 18-yard box you have to be careful and we weren’t. We don’t deserve to win.

‘It’s not bad luck, it’s deserved. We give away two points. When you give away this penalty, you deserve it.

‘You see the chances we created and conceded it’s quite similar to all this season apart from the Chelsea game – but we are not able to close the games. That is the feeling.’