'We could not' - Pep Guardiola makes blunt Man City admission after shock defeat

Pep Guardiola said that Manchester City were not 'clean' enough to cope with Bournemouth as they suffered their first Premier League defeat for 11 months.

The Blues headed to Bournemouth as champions following their formidable run in 2024 but they finished the day a point shy of Liverpool at the top following a 2-1 loss at the Vitality Stadium. Goals from Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson were too far for City to claw back despite a Josko Gvardiol consolation and a late charge in the final minutes of the game.

City travelled without five key players and had several others patched up playing through the pain, as Guardiola had instructed. That made it a contest, although Bournemouth's greater sharpness and aggression was evident as they punished the visitors for a sub-par display.

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"We could not match the players’ intensity. The situation with long balls, we could not win it and when you don’t win those sort of balls to Semenyo or the strikers, we have to defend deeper," the City boss said. "We struggled to make our build up and especially for the rhythm they put in the game. They were higher than us and we could not handle it.

"They are fast, I know, but today was more than often because our play was not clean, especially with these sorts of balls when you don’t win it. It was not the transitions when we are in the final third and after that we lose the ball and the transition didn’t happen much.

"It was more that when we are high pressing, long balls and you lose the ball lose the duel, win the second ball and after that they run. After that, always happened. In the past we were able to handle these situations and today we could not. Sometimes the opponents are better and you have to accept it."