ADAMA BUSTER
Two-goal Traore stuns City as Guardiola admits the title is now Liverpool’s for the taking
PEP GUARDIOLA fears Liverpool are already out of sight in the Premier League title race.
Liverpool hold an eight-point lead at the top after Guardiola’s Manchester City crashed to a shock home defeat by Wolves yesterday.
Guardiola admitted his players were “nervous” as City’s hopes of winning a third straight crown were rocked by two-goal Adama Traore.
The City boss said: “It’s a lot of points. Liverpool haven’t dropped any points. It’s better for us not to think that one team is eight points ahead. It was a bad day. It happens
sometimes. It was not a good day, we didn’t play good.
“We started quite well, but after we conceded two situations in our build-up, where it’s impossible to defend, we got a little bit nervous.”
City have now dropped five points in their opening four home games of the season, having dropped only three in the whole of last season when they pipped Liverpool to the title.
Guardiola added: “We controlled them better in the second half but at the end, with us attacking and people up front, we lost balls in positions where it’s so difficult and they were clinical.
“Before that we hit the post and we had actions, but the way we played was not good. It sometimes happens. We spoke about this, ‘Come on guys, a lot of games to play, we did it and we’re going to do it again’.”
It was City’s first home defeat in 10 months and only the second time in 45 league games that Guardiola’s men had failed to score.
Jubilant Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo hailed his players and claimed the defending champions are not the same team who have dominated for the past two seasons.
He said: “It was a very good performance and more than that, it was the workrate. The players ran and ran.
“It’s very difficult to play against City. It requires a lot of high-speed running.
“But City are not the same City as they were last season. There are areas to exploit.”