City have lost their ability to keep control

AT Stamford Bridge, Manchester City had already thrown away two leads before Ruben Dias dived in to bring down Armando Broja in the penalty area in the fourth minute of injury time.

- JOE BRAY

Cole Palmer converted the penalty and City dropped two points.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's well-taken goal against Liverpool was less to do with any individual mistake, but was still two points dropped. Then, the 3-3 draw with Tottenham saw another two leads pegged back. Even against Red Star in the Champions League, City were 2-0 and 3-1 up, twice letting the opposition back in the game.

It happened again against Crystal Palace on Saturday, but the Blues couldn't see the game out and dropped their seventh and eighth points from winning positions in six games. So what has gone wrong? And why are City suddenly conceding late goals?

After Palace, Guardiola tore into his players, telling them the draw was deserved due to their inability to control their lead. Bernardo Silva gave away possession late on, Phil Foden swung a wild boot at a loose ball in the box and gave away the penalty. "It's deserved. We give away two points," the boss said. "When you give away this penalty, you deserve it."

"At the end, be patient and don't concede transitions and don't concede like we have done in seven or eight years in these type of games. In the 18-yard box you have to be careful and we weren't. We don't deserve to win."

Expanding on his brutal critique of his players, Guardiola was then asked why City keep conceding late goals.

This was the eighth time in the last ten Premier League games where City have conceded in the last 20 minutes. Six have cost them points. In all competitions it's 11 goals conceded late on. For Guardiola, the issue is about closing games when City lead, or manage them better when they are drawing.