Goal-shy City are so near but so bar

PEP GUARDIOLA has branded his Manchester City players the nearly men of the Premier League.

The City boss believes his first season at the Etihad would have realised much more than a top-four finish had the Blues taken their chances. Sergio Aguero (above) has scored 31 goals, but next best is Raheem Sterling on just 10.

Guardiola said: “I have learned that in England you have to score more goals.

“Especially at home, we have dropped a lot of points because we didn’t score enough goals.

“So we have to play a little bit better to create more chances and more goals if we want to reduce the gap to Tottenham and Chelsea next season.

“If we don’t it will be the same. For example, Kevin De Bruyne has most assists in the league, but he has also hit the crossbar so many times.

“It is a matter of centimetres and if you just score half of those situations then maybe there are seven or eight more points.”