PEP GUARDIOLA has admitted that his Manchester City stars were “hungover” during their FA Cup final defeat last season.
The City boss, 53, was speaking after his side were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham last night.
The 2-1 defeat was City’s first loss of the season, which was pointed out to Guardiola after the game.
Their last defeat had come at Wembley in last season’s FA Cup final, in which they were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United.
Referencing that match last night, Guardiola said: “This is the news, not that we lose, but how long it has been since we lose.
“Of course, with the FA Cup final we were a little bit hungover, but it is good news.”
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The Wembley showpiece had come just a week after City had clinched the Premier League title on the final day of the season.
City stars let their hair down after pipping Arsenal to the post, with the likes of Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland leading the celebrations.
After lifting the Premier League trophy, City stars and their partners headed to plush Manchester bar and restaurant Fenix to continue their revelry.
The following weekend at Wembley they looked sluggish, with goals by Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo giving Man Utd a 2-0 half-time lead.
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Jeremy Doku did pull one back for City late on, but Guardiola’s men were unable to conjure an equaliser.
The cup final win largely contributed to Erik ten Hag clinging on to his job as Man Utd boss at the time.
He had appeared all but certain to get the sack after his side finished a dismal eighth.
But following the cup final victory the Dutchman was given a reprieve by United’s Ineos chiefs.
After another summer at the helm, Ten Hag was unable to change United’s league fortunes.
He was finally sacked on Monday following last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham, with United 14th in the table after nine games.
Ruud van Nistelrooy has been placed in caretaker charge, with Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim primed to take over.
City, meanwhile, are facing an injury crisis – having lost Manuel Akanji in last night’s warm-up and Savinho during the match.
After the game, Guardiola confessed: “We have 13 players, we are in real difficulties.
“The guys that play, they finish most of them with problems and we’ll see how they recover.
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“I think we are in trouble, because in nine years we’ve never been in the situation with so many injuries.
“The players make a step forward, more together than ever, and we will try to do this week in this short time of recovery.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
