Pep Guardiola has revealed why Manchester City were defeated 2-1 by Newcastle United on Tuesday night in their English Premier League encounter.
Rafa Benitez’s men secured all three points against the champions as goals from Salomón Rondón and Matt Ritchie proved decisive.
Guardiola said Manchester City were defeated by Newcastle United because his players “were not aggressive enough”. According to Irish Times, he said;
“Seven points is a lot of points,”
“Liverpool’s advantage is not huge but it’s there – we have to win a lot of games now. But if we want to keep going up as a club we have to accept the challenge. We are in January and we are behind the leaders but there are a lot of trophies and points to play for.”
Guardiola added:
“I know how my players are feeling right now and I am close to them and by them.
“Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t – we had just won eight games in a row and scored 30 goals without reply but sometimes things don’t go your way.
“I love these players, they are an incredible group of guys, they gave me all the prestige I have in England.
“Our game was slow, we didn’t commit. It was not our best night. We lost second balls, we were not aggressive enough, that’s why we could not win. We didn’t have the rhythm we needed to impose our game.
“We didn’t play our normal way but it happens sometimes. Players are human beings. It was not a good night but congratulations to Newcastle. They played good – and they have a very good manager.”
