IT AIN’T OVER Pep’s ignoring Jose as gap at top closes to 13

PEP GUARDIOLA is refusing to lay a finger on the Premier League trophy – even though Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho insisted he already had two hands on it.

The Man City manager watched his side stumble on the road for the third successive game and insisted that the title race is still alive – contrary to what Mourinho may say.

And miraculously he still had a smile on his face after the 1-1 draw at Burnley despite Raheem Sterling suffering the miss of the season – a chance which should have been converted to put City on the way to their

23rd win of the season.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson netted an

82nd-minute leveller for the Clarets to fully punish Sterling’s staggering miss.

Guardiola said: “Jose said what he did, I said what I did, you can believe whichever one. There are still 36 points to play for – a lot will happen.” The City boss also defended his decision to name only six subs on the bench at Turf Moor rather than the normal seven which raised more than a few eyebrows.

He insisted he had a host of injuries and preferred his Under-23s stars to play in the previous night’s game against Swansea rather than travel just to sit in the dugout.

The Spaniard added: “We didn’t have any players, they are injured. I’d liked to have had 18 players and I could have called on one of the second team but they played yesterday.

“We decided not to bring someone on to the bench who played last night because they wouldn’t have played here.”

Match Report: RESULT! P8-9