Pep: We can overcome whatever is thrown at us
CITY manager Pep Guardiola is in bullish mood following his side’s latest win.
Having gone 15 points clear with the 1-0 victory at Newcastle, the Blues know 13 more wins and the title is secured.
While their dominant performance against the Toon wasn’t the attacking masterclass fans have begun to expect in recent weeks, it did highlight another side to the team.
Raheem Sterling scored the only goal of the game to make it 18 league wins in a row for the Blues, but it was the way in which City persisted with ingenuity to break down their resilient opposition which really impressed.
Guardiola’s warriors battled hard to overcome a robust Newcastle wall, as the Blues proved that even parking the proverbial bus isn’t enough to halt their record-breaking juggernaut.
A win at Crystal Palace on Sunday would equal the European major leagues record of 19 wins, achieved by Bayern Munich under Guardiola.
And the Blues boss was delighted by the versatility on display from his players, saying: “As a manager, I have to adapt my team. We have played against teams who have done high pressing, low pressing, counter attacks, just setpieces, just like Tottenham who tried to go forward and attack.
“And in all of them we have been able to beat them. The magnificent thing about football and any manager of any team is they can play anyway, teams can try to trick you, but you have to be able to beat them and until now we have been able to do that.”
The Blues passed another tough test of character to defeat the Magpies and Guardiola was delighted with the levels of concentration demonstrated by his players.
“It’s not easy to maintain our focus in that period, everyone is on holiday, everyone has a party at home.
“To be focused after 17 games in a row is not easy, but we did it.
“We are so happy to win again and just think about Selhurst Park now.
“Of course we are so happy to break records, because we keep having one more, one more, but when we prepare for games we don’t speak about records, we just speak about what we have to win. “We find a way to beat them.” What is even more remarkable about the unbeaten run is that City haven’t shown any real signs of slowing down, even with a congested fixture list.
Guardiola added: “I saw the schedule in my office the other day and I wanted to escape because it is terrible.
“The games we are going to play, it’s tough. People say we have to play on Boxing Day and all the games in December, but it’s also January with the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup and then the Champions League in February.
“It will be tough for us but it will be tough for our opponents and our competitors.”