Guardiola admits City face tough battle in Premier League title race | OneFootball

Manchester City recorded their third consecutive draw in the English Championship after a 1-1 tie with Brighton this Wednesday, while Aston Villa ended in a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace—two results that benefit league leaders Arsenal.

The ‘Gunners’ now hold a five-point lead over City (2nd, 43 points) and Villa (3rd) before hosting Liverpool (4th, 34 points) on Thursday in London, closing out the 21st round.

Pep Guardiola’s ‘Citizens’ had already dropped points against Sunderland (0-0) and Chelsea (1-1) in their previous two matches, and their next fixture will be against arch-rivals Manchester United on January 17.

“I’m very satisfied with the way we played,” declared Guardiola, though he acknowledged it was a setback in the title race: “That’s three games now without a win. It’s harder now (to win the title). But we’ll keep fighting.”

How the game went

Norwegian star Erling Haaland opened the scoring for City just before halftime, converting a penalty in the 41st minute—his 20th goal in the league and 150th for the Manchester Blues.

But in the second half, Japanese left winger Kaoru Mitoma equalized with a low shot from the edge of the box in the 60th minute.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa picked up a point in London against Crystal Palace. It was the first draw in the league since September 21 for the Birmingham side, who had been on a run of 13 wins and two losses in their last 15 games.

*With content from AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.