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Sergio Aguero scored two late goals against Crystal Palace but the visitors nabbed an even later goal by Wilfried Zaha.
The visitors had taken a first-half lead, despite being outplayed for much of the first half, and then City saw a penalty decision overturned by VAR.
Sergio Aguero’s 250th goal for the club on 82 minutes leveled the scores.
And five minutes later the brilliant Argentine headed home his second of the game to put City ahead, but Palace had the final say as Fernandinho deflected a cross into his own net on 90 minutes.
A disappointing day. On to the reaction.
Pep Guardiola Reaction
“We tried to do everything,” said the City boss.
“The spirit was there. We tried and tried. We came back and it’s a pity we dropped points like that. But it’s football.
“We struggled a little bit in the first 10 minutes of the second half. We came back without thinking too much what we have to do.
“I think we did everything. We attacked, put many crosses and corners into the box. They didn’t do much, but they get a point.
“We knew it would be hard. Last season when they beat us it was the same.
“They had two, three chances and scored. In general we controlled the games against them, but you have to avoid mistakes.
“You should not allow Zaha to run at you, but we did and after we concede a goal.”
Asked if he had used a more familiar formation against Palace, Pep said: “No, today we played similar to the way we did at Aston Villa, with Mendy attacking down the left and players in the middle.”
On the overturned penalty decision, Pep said: “I don’t know the rule on the hands. It looks like hands but… “
And on the inevitable title race question, the Catalan responded: “Maybe I will watch Sheffield United, I don’t know. I have answered this question many times.”
Benjamin Mendy Reaction
“Football is like this - that’s why it’s beautiful,” he said.
”At the end of the game, we are all angry and sad. I think we deserved more.
”In the first half, we could have scored with a lot of chances. They defended well - we know they have quality.
”In the second, half, we came back nicely with the 2-1, but after that, in the last minute they scored again.
“We were winning the game. The emotion was crazy.
”The feeling, the atmosphere... we believed we could score.
”In football, you have to be focused until the end. For one or two seconds, we were not ready and anything can happen.
”We tried to play like Man City play. We drew and we need to forget the game and look forward.”
“Aguero is a striker that is recognised in all the world,” he declared.
”We are so happy to have him on this team. We share the best for him.
”We have to keep going in this way.”
Notable Tweets
Late drama in abundance!
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 18, 2020
2-2 #MCICRY #ManCity pic.twitter.com/eA8dhrcnUz
250 ✅
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 18, 2020
251 ✅@aguerosergiokun
#ManCity pic.twitter.com/2FVNMi0uHU
FT: 2-2. Wild game, unlucky and no real urgency showed. A draw which effectively ends a title challenge. Sigh. #ManCity #MCICRY
— Bitter and Blue (@BitterandBlue1) January 18, 2020
| Sergio Agüero is averaging a goal every 73 minutes, highest of the top 5 European Leagues!
— City Chief (@City_Chief) January 18, 2020
Sergio Agüero - 73 Mins PG
.
Kylian Mbappé - 77 Mins PG
R. Lewandowski - 79 Mins PG
Timo Werner - 79 Mins PG
Lionel Messi - 80 Mins PG
It's Lonely at the top... pic.twitter.com/rIHVFOqdgV
Imagine the best CB in the last decade leaving and deciding to not replace him.
— The City Eye (@TheCityEye) January 18, 2020
Could never be my club. Oh wait....