Pep Guardiola has refused to blame Raheem Sterling for Manchester City's failure to beat Burnley in Saturday's Premier League meeting at Turf Moor.
The England winger sidefooted wide in front of an open goal after 71 minutes played, the Citizens leading 1-0 at the time through Danilo's first-half strike.
Burnley subsequently made the most of the reprieve to equalise through Johann Berg Gudmundsson's half-volley with eight minutes remaining for a 1-1 final score.
"It is football," Guardiola told Sky Sports News. "Next day he is going to score a goal. Raheem scored against Southampton in the 96th minute. Today he missed one chance. That can happen."
Sterling, who has scored 19 goals this season, was substituted soon after his miss, but Guardiola insisted that the two events were not connected, adding: "No, I didn't do that for that reason."
The result at Turf Moor, combined with Manchester United's 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town, sees the Man City's lead at the top of the table trimmed to 13 points.
Giuseppe Labellarte
