London: Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has said that his side’s thrilling 4-4 draw with Chelsea was a fair result for both sides, believing the result could have gone either way.
Erling Haaland’s penalty and Manuel Akanji header either side of Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling goals saw the sides go into half-time level.
City took the lead shortly after the restart through Haaland before Nicolas Jackson responded for the hosts. A deflected Rodrigo strike in the 86th minute looked to have given City the win before Cole Palmer scored an added time penalty to round out a Premier League classic.
“Could be better, but could be worse too, so it’s good for the Premier League. They started better, they are trying to build something here with a lot of new players. We had moments and our goal at 3-4 – we were lucky, and we didn’t make perfect decisions, but the quality they have, it is what it is,” Guardiola was quoted by Manchester City website.
“Right now, it was a fair result – both teams played to win. Many things were going to happen, but of course, we are ahead going into added time, we could defend better, and the penalty is a penalty. We created a lot of chances – the most in my visits to Stamford Bridge, but they created a lot, too,” he said.
Guardiola said on Friday that he expects Chelsea to challenge for trophies again soon and he reiterated that belief after seeing Mauricio Pochettino’s side up close on Sunday.
“I had an opinion before, during and after about how good they are and nothing has changed. Chelsea is Chelsea and they have been one of the best teams of the last 20 years so I couldn’t expect anything different.
“If you are saying it is a long time since we lost, that is a good sign – today, we didn’t lose so we go away with a good point having created a lot of chances. It was a fair result for both teams,” said the 52-year-old Spaniard.
–IANS
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