Pep won't blame defeat on injuries

Manchester City's injury crisis proved costly, as the champion saw a 32-game unbeaten Premier League run come to a surprising end with a 2-1 loss at Bournemouth on Saturday. However, manager Pep Guardiola preferred not to use injuries as an excuse.

The defeat dropped City to second place, two points behind Liverpool, which recovered to beat Brighton 2-1.

"I don't know what would have happened. I would like to tell you if these players (weren't injured), we would have won, but nobody knows," Guardiola said. "The guys gave everything, but not enough to compete against that team in that moment."

City's loss came on the heels of a midweek defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup fourth round.

On Friday, Guardiola said he had urged his stars to play through pain "like Rafael Nadal" and feared he might have only 11 senior players fit to feature in the Bournemouth game.

City was already missing Jack Grealish, Rodri and Oscar Bobb, and, in his pregame interview, Guardiola said Ruben Dias and John Stones were also "ruled out for a little bit of a long time".

Captain Kyle Walker was one of several players who started that had not been expected to feature on Saturday.

"Kyle in 16 days didn't train one session with us, made an incredible effort," Guardiola said, adding that several other players had "niggles".

" (But) it's not just about that," the City boss added. "They (Bournemouth) were difficult to play in the first half. In the second half, we were much better."

Bournemouth's victory was its first over City in the club's history, and had Cherries fans at the Vitality Stadium cheekily chanting: "Can we play you every week?"

"I'm very pleased. It is one thing to beat City, but another to play better," Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said.

REUTERS