Manchester City Willing To Lose In The Last Premier League Match To Look To The FA Cup Final Against MU

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. (Photo: Twitter @ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City lost in the last match of the English Premier League 2022/2023. Traveling to Brentford headquarters, The Citizens lost 0-1 to Ethan Pinnock's only goal in the 85th minute.

In this match, City did field a second tier team. This was done because many core players were injured and had fitness problems.

"We have four or five players with minor problems, not major injuries, but they are suffering less serious injuries," said City manager Pep Guardiola.

"In addition, players who didn't play this match were really exhausted the day before and mentally, they were completely drained," he continued.

Guardiola hopes that a number of his injured players can recover soon ahead of the FA Cup final which will be held this weekend. Understandably, the opponents faced were not just a team, namely city rivals Manchester United.

"To play the final we have to play players who feel better. Not because they play because they get a lot of playing minutes before," said Pep.

The Citizens appeared without Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji due to injuries and physical fitness problems. However, Guardiola believes it is not a big problem.

"I think they will be ready (for the FA Cup final). They have to be ready for a training session and I will meet them in the next three days and that's why today is so important to see these players and how they are doing," said Guardiola.

Guardiola in that match also decided to back up the team's core players such as the captain Ilkay Gundogan, Erling Haaland, Rodri, Bernardo Silva and John Stones. For 90 minutes, Guardiola practically made only one substitution by pulling defender Nathan Ake to be replaced by Shea Carles.