Pep Guardiola reveals the tactical mistake that cost Man City in FA Cup final

Pep Guardiola took responsibility for Manchester City's defeat to local rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday, claiming he got his tactics wrong at Wembley Stadium.

The Cityzens were favourites to claim the double after winning the Premier League title last weekend and had easily beaten United in their two previous domestic meetings in 2023/24.

However, Josko Gvardiol and Stefan Ortega's blunder handed Alejandro Garnacho the opening goal and fellow teenager Kobbie Mainoo made it 2-0 heading into half-time.

Substitute Jeremy Doku did half the deficit as he beat Andre Onana at the near post in the 87th minute but no equaliser arrived and Guardiola shouldered the blame for the defeat at full-time.

He said: "For my decisions we were not in the right positions to attack them. My mistake, my gameplan was not good.

"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. Even with that, we arrive two or three times in the final third and byline and made nothing from crosses.

"They made one goal from one shot and the goal from [Kobbie] Mainoo and no more than that. 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."

While City enjoyed almost 74% of possession, United registered five shots on target to their opponents' four and created 1.59 of xG compared to the previous holders' 1.35.

The defeat means City scooped the Premier League title but no other domestic trophies during the 2023/24 season, having secured the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Supercup during the early parts of the campaign.

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