Manchester City have to accept ‘cruel’ Tottenham defeat – Guardiola
Video caption Manchester City have to accept ‘cruel’ Tottenham defeat – Guardiola
Manager Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will recover from their “cruel” defeat by Tottenham in the Champions League to push for a domestic Treble.
City had an injury-time winner from Raheem Sterling ruled out by VAR as Spurs edged a thrilling 4-4 aggregate draw on away goals .
“It’s tough. It’s cruel but we have to accept it,” he said.
“We fought a lot, nine, 10 months for the Premier League. It’s in our hands. It’s tough, but we have to do it.”
Spurs beat City in a modern classic
My players are heroes – Pochettino
Trailing 1-0 after the first leg, City finally edged ahead in the tie for the first time thanks to Sergio Aguero’s second-half strike.
But a dramatic match, which featured five goals in the first 21 minutes, had at more twists with substitute Fernando Llorente bundling in to give Spurs the advantage on away goals, before Sterling’s late effort was ruled out.
“I am so proud of the players and the fans,” added Guardiola.
“I have never heard noise like that since I have been in Manchester but football is unpredictable.”
City, who have already won the Carabao Cup, will play Watford in the FA Cup final on 18 May and are two points behind Liverpool at the top of Premier League, with a game in hand.
Tottenham are the highest-placed team of City’s five remaining league opponents.
The fixture list has paired the two teams at Etihad Stadium again on Saturday, with anything less than victory for City placing the destiny of the title in Liverpool’s hands.
“We have to react on Saturday,” said Guardiola.
“But don’t think too much right now, sleep as much as possible and then we will prepare for the game.”
City are yet to get beyond the last eight of the Champions League in Guardiola’s three campaigns at the helm.