Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has highlighted the necessity for his Premier League title-chasing side to 'perform at their level' for the entire 90 minutes after criticising their first-half showing in Saturday's 1-1 home draw with Chelsea.
In an action-packed end-to-end contest at the Etihad Stadium, the Citizens were exposed on the counter-attack by their West London counterparts on several occasions and fell behind three minutes before the break courtesy of a coolly-converted finish from former City winger Raheem Sterling.
Guardiola's side improved in the second period although they were wasteful in the final third, with Erling Haaland unable to net any of his nine attempts on goal, but their relentless pressure in the final third eventually told in the 83rd minute when Rodri rifled home a powerful 20-yard strike to salvage a point against Mauricio Pochettino's side.
Man City's 11-game winning run in all competitions has come to an end, and they have subsequently slipped to third in the Premier League table, two points behind Arsenal in second and four adrift of leaders Liverpool, albeit with one game still in hand.
Reflecting on the draw with Chelsea, Guardiola believes that the result is a reminder of the extreme pressures his side must face in their quest to win a record fourth successive Premier League title.
"Well, we don't perform our level in the first half," Guardiola told reporters as quoted by mancity.com. "When you play against teams who have composure and prestige like Chelsea you have to perform at our best for 94, 95 minutes.
"We started to play after conceding a goal. We were not at our best and it can happen in transition. When you aren't at your best you concede transitions. It happens. But after, we react like we are. And we created a lot, a lot, a lot.
"They have one or two transitions for their quality and ability to keep the ball with incredibly good runners up front.
"The result is that. We have to perform better in the first half. We have to go there. As a team [and] as a group, the first half was not like we are."
Guardiola added: "The demand is so high because no-one is going to give us [anything]. We have to do everything.
"Always [it has] happened in the previous seasons and in this season it's going to happen. We are Man City so we have to do it for ourselves.
"All the time, always. From day one I said that. I expect we have to improve the first half. We have to improve.
"Second half was unbelievable. How we played and going to make transitions because it happened but in general it was really good."
Man City will endeavour to return to winning ways and move to within one point of the Premier League summit when they welcome Brentford to the Etihad on Tuesday night. body check tags ::
