Guardiola noted that his players were second best in 50-50 balls and duels during their 2-1 loss to Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium
By Kehinde Okeowo
Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, has explained why Bournemouth ended his team’s 32-game unbeaten run in 2024 at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Spanish tactician gave the reason while speaking with the BBC after the intriguing encounter.
According to him, his players could not match the intensity of their opponent during the 2-1 defeat.
Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring for the hosts as early as the 9th minute before Evanilson prodded in the second goal in the second half.
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Although Josko Gvardiol pulled one back for the visitors in the 82nd minute, it was merely a consolation.
Explaining why his team lost the consequential fixture, Guardiola said: “We knew we couldn’t match the intensity. We have talked about it. It was an open game. We had chances at the end but I congratulate Bournemouth for the victory.
“The 50-50 balls in the middle, the duels, they play this type of game. They are so aggressive. They had six to 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. We had real good moments at the start of the second half and after that, it was difficult to swallow as we were good. After we scored we had momentum and chances but couldn’t score [again].
Man City with the loss are now two points behind Liverpool who fought back to defeat Brighton 2-1 at Anfield on the same day.
