Pep Guardiola hails Manchester City despite goalless draw

Pep Guardiola felt his Manchester City side did 'absolutely everything' in an attempt to beat Crystal Palace as their goalless draw at Selhurst Park blew the Premier League title race wide open.

With Liverpool coasting to victory at Brighton on Saturday, City failed to restore their six-point lead as a spirited Palace display saw them earn a deserved share of the spoils.

The result leaves City four points clear at the summit but the reigning champions have played a game more than Liverpool - who travel to in-form Arsenal on Wednesday night - with Jurgen Klopp's side still to travel to the Etihad Stadium next month.

Joao Cancelo and Kevin De Bruyne hit the post as City toiled in their attempts to find a way past Palace for the second time this season but Guardiola praised the overall performance from his side.

'They did absolutely everything to win the game,' he said. 'We played a really good game, a really, really good game at a difficult stadium and (against) a difficult side that defends deep.

'Football is the only game (where) it happens where statistics doesn't count, if you don't score a goal you don't win it.

'Luck doesn't exist in football. We have to score goals and we didn't do it. We played to score goals and concede few. We struggled a little bit.

'It was an incredible effort from Crystal Palace, a fantastic team who defend really well.'

With Liverpool travelling to face City on April 10, the title race could once again go down to the wire but Guardiola believes there could be plenty of other twists and turns to come.

'There are still nine games, a lot of points,' he added, admitting he will be tuning in to watch Liverpool's game at Arsenal.

'There are many, many games still and the way we play in general is