City not thinking of title chase in 'a season to suffer'

LONDON - Manchester City cannot think about winning a fifth consecutive English Premier League title, manager Pep Guardiola said, with his team mired in a run of poor performances.

- 

City had to settle for a point in a 2-2 draw with lowly Crystal Palace on Dec 7, twice coming back from a goal down and losing Rico Lewis to a red card late in the game, to remain fourth in the standings, eight points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

"We take a point. We fought incredible and came back twice. It's a season to suffer. We'll see what happens in the last month," the City boss said.

"We cannot talk about the title race when we lose four games in a row and draw (with just one win amid that six-match run). We'll try to recover players."

Lewis and Erling Haaland scored in the draw that had Guardiola speaking with pride about his players' resilience, with his slumping side still missing a number of key players through injury and illness.