SECOND TO NONE
Pep: No team will ever match City’s amazing trophy haul
PEP GUARDIOLA believes Manchester City’s incredible spell of domestic dominance will never be matched after they lifted the sixth major trophy of his reign yesterday.
City beat Aston Villa 2-1 with goals from Sergio Aguero and Rodri to secure a third consecutive Carabao Cup and make it a clean sweep of the last four
English trophies on offer. ‘It is remarkable to win eight of the last nine titles (including the Community Shield) and it will be so difficult for anyone to do it again — not just us, but our opponents,’ said Guardiola (below). ‘It means consistency. This group of players are so special. It’s about showing that we are there in every game. ‘That is the best thing we can give to the club. It is important that everybody knows we have a responsibility to win titles. ‘Sergio Aguero has won 13 titles here and that is amazing. The new striker (Aguero’s eventual replacement) will be compared to that high level and that is good.’ Guardiola believes his four seasons at the Etihad have left a lasting mark and elevated City to a new level. ‘I definitely could not have imagined it,’ he added. ‘The most remarkable thing is that so many Premier League champions drop after winning the league — they finish fifth or sixth or seventh. ‘But we are still there in second, seven points clear of third, so that counts for something.’ Guardiola insisted his squad still have the desire to succeed despite falling way behind Liverpool in the title race, and City forward Raheem Sterling backed that up. ‘I can never get enough of it,’ Sterling said. ‘We did the job and we were professional. The league has been difficult this year. We’ve won one trophy so far, but we’re still in the running for two more. We’re fully focused and ready to do the business. ‘It’s so hard to do that for three years on the bounce and that’s what we’ve done, so we’ll keep doing it, keep trying to win trophies.’ Mbwana Samatta pulled a goal back for Dean Smith’s side before the interval — after a John Stones slip — and Villa almost forced extra time in a spirited finale. Manager Smith said: ‘We can’t hide from the fact we’re in the bottom three after the results on Saturday, but we can take a lot of heart from that performance. If we play like that against many teams in the league, we will get out of that relegation spot. ‘Today’s performance was the standard. We were written off after last week at Southampton (a 2-0 defeat), but there haven’t been too many of those displays.’