Guardiola: I didn t expect the opponent to retreat so deeply; we will fight until the last moment of the season

On May 11, Manchester City drew 0-0 away with Southampton in the 36th round of the Premier League. Although Manchester City had 26 shots, they only hit the target five times.

Guardiola said after the game: "Of course, today's result was a missed opportunity for the team, and we knew very well. After 15-20 minutes of the first half, the opponent's defense line retreated very deeply. We had to rely on the forwards to break through their defense line because we didn't expect the opponent to defend like this, which prevented us from finding the rhythm.

"We performed better in the second half, especially in the last 30 minutes we had many opportunities, but it was really difficult to score against such a team. Today we missed some crosses, second landing points, and the chance to hit the ball in the penalty area, and we also didn't do well in set pieces. We were not very lucky to fail to score the goals we needed and failed to convert those opportunities.

"Opple can certainly play the football they want to play. Over the years we have faced teams of different styles, including those that have been relegated. All we have to do is break their defense. Many times they will have five to six players on the back line, and you need to break their defense by converting offense, creativity, free kicks and on-the-spot reactions.

"We did have a chance today but failed to score, and that's how it is. Now we are going to prepare for the next game, first Bournemouth, then Fulham. We still have three games to play, a FA Cup final and two Premier League games. I had some expectations about this a month ago, and the team needed to fight until the last moment. ”