Manchester City head coach, Pep Guardiola, attributed his team’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup final to a tactical error.
Guardiola made three changes to the lineup that secured the Premier League title against West Ham last weekend.
At half-time at Wembley, trailing 2-0, he substituted Jeremy Doku and Manuel Akanji for Mateo Kovacic and Nathan Ake.
Belgian winger Doku managed to score for City in the 87th minute, but it wasn’t enough to reclaim the trophy they had won against United the previous season.
“Congratulations to Manchester United on winning the FA Cup,” Guardiola commented afterward.
“I think my game plan was not good. The second half was much better. We were more intense, in part because we were 2-0 down and had nothing to lose. It was a tight game.
“We had clear chances in the second half which wasn’t easy because they had man-marking and defended the pockets but we had the chances and unfortunately we scored a goal a little bit late.”
This marked Guardiola’s first defeat in a domestic cup final in England, having previously secured four League Cups and two FA Cups.
“It’s normal teams can lose finals but this season has been extraordinary, fighting for all the trophies in a good way,” he added. “We’ll rest and come back next season.”
When questioned if his team appeared sluggish, Guardiola responded, “No. For my decisions we were not in the right positions to attack them. My mistake, my game plan was not good.”
Elaborating on his strategy, he said, “The players know the reason why. Tactically, it was not good. I was not good today. You plan a game for different positions but it didn’t work.
“Always when we play against United, we have the control and we created in the second half but we were not able to do it.”
