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Pep Guardiola speaks after Manchester City's convincing 3-1 victory against Aston Villa.
Pep Guardiola has lauded his team, claiming they played a really good game in their victory against Unai Emery's Aston Villa.
Manchester City moved to only three points behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race following a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa at the Etihad.
City cut gap to Arsenal
The Cityzens grabbed an early goal in the 4th minute thanks to a strike by Rodri and had their advantage doubled in the 39th minute by Ilkay Gundogan. Just before the break, Riyad Mahrez converted from the spot to put City three goals ahead. Ollie Watkins pulled one back for Aston Villa on the hour mark, but it would end up being nothing more than a consolatory strike as the game ended 3-1 in favour of the home side.
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The victory cut Arsenal's lead on Manchester City to only three points, and City's manager Pep Guardiola says his team will go to London to try to get a win in their next game against the league leaders on Wednesday.
Pep believes the team managed by his former assistant have been excellent so far, which is why they have managed to cross the 50-point mark. He also acknowledges that Arterta's men have a game in hand, but he believes his team's performance has improved, which is why they have been able to close the gap.
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"Arsenal have a game in hand. We will see after all the games when the Premier League is finished," Pep said, per the BBC.
"We will see after all the games when the Premier League is finished. But we are going to London to try and get a win.
"When one team has made 50 points in the first leg, it is because they are very good. we closed the gap today because the performance from the team was really really good."
"We played a really good game, unfortunately the best moments were in the second half, we played better than the first half and we had the feeling that we were going to score more, we concede the goal and after 3-1 in the Premier League is always open but we make a very good game.
The Spanish manager also spoke about his thinning squad, emphasizing the need for them to avoid injuries as they have ‘18, 19 players'. Guardiola surmises that his once rich squad, which was the envy of all, is now probably the lightest in the Premier League in terms of sheer numbers.
"We have just 18, 19 players. Our depth is so so small, maybe the smallest one in the Premier League by far. It's important that we don't have injuries, but we have an incredible methodology for training to manage the fatigue and avoid injuries. We have incredible doctors and physios and everyone. I fight for that for many years.
Pep on Haaland
Haaland was taken off at half-time, and Pep Guardiola has now confirmed that the Norwegian striker picked up a knock, and they did not want to take any risk on his fitness.
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The 22-year-old would be assessed in the coming days to ascertain the full scope of his situation.
"Haaland had a knock, he was uncomfortable. At 3-0, we don't want to take risks. We'll see and assess in the next days. If he is not ready, we play another one. Hopefully, he's ready but we will see.
Manchester City's penalty was dispatched by Mahrez in the game while Haaland was still on the pitch. However, Pep confirms that Haaland is the primary penalty taker of the team and says he would speak to them tomorrow to confirm why a different penalty taker other than the designated player took the penalty.
"I don't know, I need to talk to them. Normally Erling [Haaland] is the first taker and Riyad [Mahrez] is the second one, Rodri was involved so we will see what they say tomorrow."
Manchester City would get a chance to go level on points with Arsenal on Wednesday when they travel to the Emirates Stadium.
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