Man City’s slump is simply crazy as they are playing really well… but title setback has left Pep Guardiola with some thinking to do during trip to the Middle East

• Man City 2-2 Crystal Palace: Pep Guardiola’s title push hit by late double blast
• Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Michael Olise on target as Palace earn a shock point
• ‘There’s no bigger waste of time!’ What is the point of the Club World Cup? It’s All Kicking Off 

Every setback feels like the world has fallen in at Manchester City and Rodri, head bowed and distraught as he left the Etihad after a lengthy debrief in the dressing room, looked like a man who would struggle to sleep on the plane to Saudi Arabia.

City went straight to the Club World Cup in Jeddah, arriving on Sunday morning, for a tournament that doesn’t feel in keeping with their current malaise — they have the lowest points total after 17 Premier League games under Pep Guardiola. Conceding four late match-defining goals in their last 10 has handed the title advantage to Arsenal and Liverpool.

Rodri has issues with sleep and it will have been a restless red-eye. ‘You can relax (after winning titles), and this is something we don’t want,’ the midfielder said before this dramatic draw with Crystal Palace. ‘We don’t have to do the same level, we have to do even better because every team is better every year.’

City were great for around 70 minutes on Saturday, exactly the same pattern as during draws against Liverpool and Tottenham, and it is hard to pinpoint one specific reason why they have managed to win only four of their last 11 games. The whole thing is just a bit weird.

Apart from saying they cannot close games out, Guardiola has not publicly offered a thesis. ‘I would like to know,’ he said. ‘I feel that the last three games we played here where we dropped points we were excellent.’

Pep Guardiola shows his frustration as Man City are not turning performances into results

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And the thing is, he’s not wrong. They really should have won all three of those matches and that must be difficult for the players to comprehend. The unknowns of this run of form are perhaps worse than any specific frailty that can be addressed.

Palace had two shots on target, two goals. Tottenham: four on target, three goals (in a 3-3 draw). Liverpool: three on target, one goal (1-1). Inexplicably, Wolves: one shot, two goals (2-1 loss).

City aren’t giving up loads of opportunities yet now have the joint-worst defensive record of Guardiola’s tenure and have kept two clean sheets since the middle of August. You couldn’t look at Ederson and lay all the blame at his door, either.

Neither Ruben Dias nor Kyle Walker covered themselves in glory for Palace’s first goal in a display of somewhat blasé defending, and Phil Foden first gave away cheap possession and then kicked Jean-Philippe Mateta for the last-minute penalty. And these things are being punished with regularity at the moment.

Michael Olise scored a stoppage time penalty to earn Crystal Palace a shock draw

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‘It’s crazy how we’ve ended up drawing,’ Dias said. ‘It’s happened to us before. We controlled the whole game. Especially with a penalty — it’s difficult to take. It’s a mistake that’s cost us. It’s not about complacency — the team were there and we performed.’

The club’s best defender, John Stones, watched from the bench after featuring in the midweek European dead-rubber in Belgrade. Guardiola has thinking to do, a tactical surprise to spring, if City are to somehow win this title from here. There are calls for a return to the system of four centre halves that worked so well last season, with Walker’s form coming under scrutiny.

All of those issues will occupy Guardiola’s thoughts out in the Middle East during a week that could, rather ironically, be another for the club’s history books. There is no rest, with the 2022 Asian Champions League winners Urawa Red Diamonds waiting tomorrow after beating Leon in the quarter-final. The Japanese side only finished fourth in the J1 League this term, though.

‘Years ago, we could not imagine being there and now we are there,’ Guardiola said. ‘The mood is difficult but we have to lift it.’

MATCH FACTS

Manchester City (4-1-4-1): Ederson 6; Walker 5, Dias 5, Ake 5.5, Gvardiol 6; Rodri 6.5; Silva 7, Lewis 7.5 (Stones 90min), Foden 6, Grealish 7; Alvarez 6.

Scorers: Grealish 24, Lewis 54.

Booked: Ederson. Manager: Pep Guardiola 6.

Crystal Palace (5-4-1): Henderson 7; Clyne 7 (Eze 90), Ward 6 (Ozoh 34, 6.5), Andersen 6.5, Guehi 7, Mitchell 7; Olise 7.5, Riedewald 6.5 (Ahamada 81), Richards 6, Schlupp 7.5 (Franca 81); Mateta 8.

Scorers: Mateta 76, Olise 90+5 (pen). Booked: Andersen. Manager: Roy Hodgson 7.

Referee: Paul Tierney 5.

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