Pep Guardiola says the 2024/25 campaign is a "season to suffer" for Manchester City after they dropped further points in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
The City boss said he was proud of how his team came back twice at Selhurst Park to claim a point and end a three-match losing run on the road but added that the further points dropped ruled his team out of the title race.
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"We take a point," Guardiola said, after goals from Erling Haaland and Rico Lewis pegged back Palace twice. “We fought incredible and came back twice.
"It's a season to suffer. We'll see what happens in the last month.
"We tried. Big compliment for the opponent.
"We cannot talk about the title race when we lose four games in a row and draw. We'll try to recover players. We'll see in the last month.
"We have to do more games to be consistent. It's difficult in the situation we have. I'm really pleased for the players - they fought and did everything."
Man City's last six PL results
City’s problems were compounded by a second yellow card for goalscorer Lewis, who will now miss the home match with Manchester United next weekend.
"So proud of the team," Guardiola added. "I liked everything of the team, how we fought. We have a lot of problems with our squad.
"We fought incredible. We came back twice. It's a difficult place to come. We struggled in the beginning. We gave everything and we take a point. Long balls, second balls, they're stronger than us.
"We started the second half a bit sloppy. After 2-1 we reacted well. We lost another player defensively for the next game for a second yellow card."
He added that his side were struggling at dead-ball situations.
"Football is a game of mistakes and for the good things – we made two fantastic goals, but they are stronger than us at set-pieces – every single team is at the moment," he told Man City's website.
"But in general, the game was there, we tried, we fight, and I was very pleased about many things I saw."
City's day did not get better when they were forced to take a coach back to Manchester after the adverse weather conditions from Storm Darragh forced the cancellation of their flight home.
Before Sunday's derby Man City face a trip to Juventus in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
