Pep Guardiola refuses to entertain Premier League title talk
Pep Guardiola refuses to entertain Premier League title talk despite Man City moving 10 points clear after 17th straight win in all competitions, insisting the ‘team is not thinking about the table… there are 42 points still to fight for’
- Man City kept up their dominance over the Premier League on Wednesday night
- Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva scored as City beat Everton 3-1
- Pep Guardiola’s side have now won 17 consecutive games in all competitions
- City are first top-flight team to win their opening 10 games of a calendar year
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City are not thinking about the title even after they made top-flight history with victory over Everton on Wednesday night.
Goals from Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva secured a 3-1 win at Goodison Park which means City are the first team to triumph in their opening 10 games of a calendar year.
Guardiola’s side have now won 17 games on the spin in all competitions and this latest victory took them 10 points clear of Manchester United and Leicester at the top of the table.
Manchester City continued their incredible winning run after overcoming Everton 3-1 away
Only twice in Premier League history has a team failed to win the title having built such an advantage. But Guardiola insisted: ‘I have not seen that the team is thinking of the table, we have spoken about that. We are not here to defend our lead, it is all about three points, three points.’
‘There are 42 points still to fight for, we are in the middle of February. Now we rest for a few days, there are so many games.’
On the latest record to fall, Guardiola added: ‘It’s quite nice, it’s never been done before… but football is a sport that doesn’t wait, our next target is Arsenal. Of course today we will enjoy it, but tomorrow afternoon we will start to think about Arsenal.’
City were without Ilkay Gundogan, who has been so influential in recent months, but in his absence Mahrez and Silva delivered match-winning displays.
Pep Guardiola insists City are not thinking about the title yet despite moving 10 points clear
Guardiola said of Silva: ‘What a player… everything he does, he does incredibly well.
‘As a manager you dream to have people like Bernardo… I think his mum and dad must be so proud about the son they have.’
Mahrez said City’s forward players have an almost telepathic understanding that again allowed them to combine so devastatingly on Wednesday night.
‘We always had a good connection, we know each other very well, we don’t even need to scream or speak, we know where we are,’ he said of himself and Silva. ‘Bernardo, Phil, Joao (Cancelo), Kevin (De Bruyne)… we all know each other.
‘We train so good, know all the movements, we train every day together, sometimes don’t even need to speak’.
Everton, meanwhile, have now equalled a club Premier League record of three straight home defeats.
Guardiola hailed Bernardo Silva after his heroics at Goodison Park on Wednesday night
It is also only the first time Carlo Ancelotti has endured such a run since 2006.
Richarlison’s first-half equaliser had given Everton hope of an upset but after City regained control, the Italian tipped them to win the title.
‘It was hard, almost impossible. We were in the game for an hour and we fought,’ Ancelotti said.
‘They are the best team and we are not at the same level. They don’t have only quality, they are also strong.
‘At the moment they are the best team, they have quality, power, belief. It is very difficult to compete with them.’
Ancelotti also revealed a calf injury picked up by Yerry Mina is likely to keep him out of this weekend’s Merseyside Derby but Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Allan could return.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton side had no answers against the Premier League giants
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