Pep hopes Wembley pain will fuel top-5 bid

Pep Guardiola has urged his Manchester City flops to use the pain from its shock FA Cup final defeat as fuel to salvage its dismal season by qualifying for the Champions League.

Guardiola's side will finish without any major silverware for the first time in eight years after crashing to a 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace at Wembley on Saturday.

The Spaniard believes City can still save some face this season by securing a top-five finish in the Premier League, which guarantees it a place in the Champions League next term.

It is currently sixth in the table, one point outside the top five, with a home game against Bournemouth on Tuesday followed by a trip to Fulham for its final fixture on May 25.

"In the last month, we had fixed the problems we had all season with scoring and conceding. In the last period we were so stable," Guardiola said.

"But, lately, against Palace and Southampton, we didn't create much. I'm not saying it is easy. We need good crosses and good people in the box.

"The game plan didn't work, because we didn't win. But, I don't have any bad feeling about that. We are sad because we didn't win a beautiful competition.

"Now, we must continue and recover quickly for the last two finals we have to play to qualify for the Champions League."

It was City's second successive FA Cup final defeat, after losing last year's showpiece against crosstown rival Manchester United.

At Wembley, City repeatedly turned to Kevin De Bruyne to prize open the well-drilled Palace defense.

But, playing in his last final for City before leaving in the summer, the Belgian midfielder's inconsistent display showed why Guardiola is willing to let him go, as injuries and age take their toll.

"I expect, again, in that way, I want Kevin in that position to deliver some balls. Unfortunately, we could not find him in the position that we wanted," he said.

Guardiola is clinging to the hope that City can mount one last push, saying: "We played much better, for example, than when we beat Palace 5-2 in April.

"We were much better than last season when we lost against United in the final.

"Today, we did everything.

"We had the possession to create chances. Could we create more? Yeah, but it's not easy, I've said that. It's not easy with 11 players there (in defense)."

AFP