Pep Guardiola gives bizarre reason for Tottenham defeat

Pep Guardiola has lamented Manchester City’s commute down to London, labelling it ‘exhausting’ after his side’s defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

City lost their third consecutive Premier League away game on Sunday thanks to a record-breaking goal from Harry Kane at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

After the defeat, Guardiola was quick to point the blame for the defeat at the club’s travel plans, comparing the travel to London to travelling to ‘northern Europe’.

“Coming to London is like going to northern Europe,” the Catalan boss said, whose team had not played in nine days before making their 200-mile trip.

“It is four and a half hours to get to a hotel. It’s so exhausting to come to London, I’m sorry.

“We need to come back to Manchester and prepare for the game against Aston Villa.”

Guardiola also took the time to discuss the performance itself, stating that he believed his side started the game well: “We started really well in the first 15 minutes until the goal we conceded. After that we played a good first half, the second half was not as good. There were too many interruptions and we cannot control. We had our chances against a team that defend very well.

“They defend with nine players really well. The squad is fantastic. I think we always play really well against them but for whatever reason we cannot seem to win or score goals.”