Pep heaps praise on his City centurions
Guardiola’s champion finishes with ‘incredible’ record 100-point haul
SOUTHAMPTON, England — Pep Guardiola saluted his “incredible” Manchester City as the champion became the first English Premier League side to reach 100 points thanks to a 1-0 win at Southampton on Sunday.
Guardiola’s team has been focused on rewriting the record book since clinching the English title almost a month ago and it added one last landmark achievement on the final day of the season.
Gabriel Jesus struck with virtually the last kick at St Mary’s to take City to the century mark in suitably dramatic fashion.
Guardiola’s wild celebration with his backroom staff showed what it meant to the Spaniard for City to achieve yet another astonishing feat.
“It’s incredible, I don’t have words, 100 points!” Guardiola said.
“When you win with 100 points it’s something special for the club. I think it’s a record that will stay for a long time.
“All season we didn’t surrender, we never gave up and tried until the end. It was an amazing finish from Gabriel.”
City’s 100-point haul comes after it set a new Premier League points record by beating Brighton in midweek, taking it past the total set by Chelsea in 2004-05.
Guardiola’s side has also scored the most goals in a single Premier League campaign (106), won the most games (32) and amassed the most consecutive victories (18) in a season that has seen it ranked along with the best teams in the history of the English game.
City finished 19 points clear of second-place Manchester United — the biggest title-winning margin in the Premier League era — to emphasize the gap between the champion and the chasing pack.
“Numbers are numbers, they are the consequence of the way we played. We didn’t play perfect for 38 games, but most of the time we were so good,” Guardiola said.
“We were better than our opponents and the records we broke came from the way we played.”
Saints safe
The loss was purely academic for the fourth-from-bottom Saints after Swansea was confirmed as the last of the three relegated teams with a home loss to already-demoted Stoke. West Bromwich Albion will also play in the Championship next season.
City is due to celebrate its title success with an open-top bus parade through the streets of Manchester on Monday.
But it had no intention of letting the impending party be a distraction at Southampton.
City controlled first-half possession, although Saints defender Wesley Hoedt headed against Claudio Bravo’s crossbar.
After the break, Raheem Sterling struck a post with a deflected effort before a John Stones header was tipped over by Alex McCarthy.
Guardiola introduced youngsters Brahim Diaz and Phil Foden late on, ensuring both players registered five appearances to earn a Premier League medal — with Foden becoming the youngest ever winner at 17 years and 350 days old.
The game appeared heading for a draw but, six years to the day since Sergio Aguero’s last-second title-winning goal for City against Queens Park Rangers, Jesus found space in the final moments.
He lifted the ball over McCarthy, igniting tumultuous applause from the traveling fans.
By the numbers