Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gave his assessment of their FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester United
Pep Guardiola took the blame for Manchester City’s performance in their FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester United.
The Blues were heavy favourites to claim a double Double after finishing 31 points ahead of United in the table, but were stunned by first-half goals at Wembley from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo. Jeremy Doku scored a late goal after an improved second-half performance from the Blues but it was not enough to avoid defeat and disappointment.
City could not hide their dismay at the result – even if they did stay to give winners United a guard of honour as they went up to lift the trophy – as another successful season ended on a limp note. Guardiola refuted suggestions that their Premier League celebrations had contributed to the below-par performance and insisted that his tactical plan was to blame for the result.
“For my decisions we were not in the right positions to attack them. My mistake, my game plan was not good,” he said.
“I think my game plan was not good. The second half was much much better. We were more intense, in part because we were 2-0 down and had nothing to lose.
“It was a tight game. We gave away the first goal, they made a good transition for the second so credit to United for the second goal. We tried.
“We had clear chances in the second half which wasn’t easy because they had man marking and defended the pockets but we had the chances and unfortunately we scored a goal a little bit late.”