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Ilkay Gundogan: 'We're dropping points because of us, not opponents'

Gundogan: 'We're dropping points because of us, not opponents'
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The champions find themselves eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool after losing to Wolves at the weekend.

Ilkay Gundogan feels Manchester City only have themselves to blame after slipping to a surprise and costly defeat against Wolves.

Adama Traore struck twice in the final 10 minutes as Wolves stunned the Premier League champions to claim a 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The defeat was City's second of the season and, although they remain second in the table, they now already trail leaders Liverpool by eight points.

β€” Manchester City (@ManCity) October 6, 2019

It was a well-disciplined performance from the visitors, who exposed the home defence a number of times on the counter-attack, but Gundogan felt City contributed to their own downfall.

The German midfielder told the BBC: "We have lost the game because of our own mistakes, again unfortunately. It feels like we gave Wolves the three points.

"We know that all the points we have dropped this season we didn't drop because the opponent was so much better, we dropped them because of us. We were guilty for these dropped points. That is the main part and that hurts so much.

Wolves condemned City to their second defeat of the season
Wolves condemned City to their second defeat of the season (Nick Potts/PA)

"Even though we have created chances we didn't score and when you concede the first goal it is difficult to come back from that."

City, with Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi again paired in defence, were sloppy at the back and were lucky not to trail at the break. Misplaced passes presented Wolves with three gilt-edged openings in the first half but they could not capitalise.

It seemed they could pay for their profligacy as City stepped up in the second half and hit the bar through David Silva, but the visitors remained resolute and pounced twice late on.

Both goals were similar as Raul Jimenez broke to play in Traore for his first goals for over a year, the Spaniard twice slipping the ball past Ederson in cool fashion.

Wolves did not play like a side that had previously won only one Premier League game this season, nor did they seem fatigued after their Europa League trip to Turkey on Thursday.

Mexican forward Jimenez felt the team were getting back to the formula that served them so well last season.

Jimenez said: "We had a great performance. We think we did it well. We did the things that last season made us be top of the league. We have to continue like this for the next match.

"We knew that City is a game that, when they have the ball, they leave some spaces when they are attacking.

"We didn't have too much time to plan the game because last Thursday we were playing in Turkey and we had two days for rest.

"So it was just the things that we know, the things that we are good doing and just we made it.

"In the first half I think we had some opportunities to score but the things happen for something and we were good enough to do it in the second half."

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Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan in action against Everton in the Premier League on February 6, 2019
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool88002061424
2Manchester CityMan City85122791816
3Arsenal84311311215
4Leicester CityLeicester8422147714
5Chelsea84221814414
6Crystal Palace842288014
7Burnley8332119212
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham83321111012
9Tottenham HotspurSpurs83231412211
10Bournemouth83231313011
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves82421111010
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd82339819
13Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd82337709
14Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton8233810-29
15Aston Villa8224131218
16Newcastle UnitedNewcastle8224513-88
17Southampton8215815-77
18Everton8215613-77
19Norwich CityNorwich82061021-116
20Watford8035420-163

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