Title is still in our hands, says Pep after big win
PEP Guardiola reiterated that Manchester City’s destiny remains in their own hands after their 4-0 victory over Fulham helped them return to the top of the Premier League table.
City’s victory has seen them move two points clear of Arsenal, who travel to Manchester United today.
Defender Josko Gvardiol netted a brace either side of Phil Foden’s finish, before Julian Alvarez scored a penalty in second-half added-time.
If Arsenal drop points this afternoon, City could wrap up what would be a fourth straight title with a victory at Tottenham on Tuesday, with the final round of fixtures to follow next weekend.
“Since they (Arsenal) lost against Aston Villa the destiny is in our hands,” Guardiola told a press conference at Craven Cottage.
“In the last game (of the season) against West Ham the destiny is in our hands and that is what we want.
“It will be difficult but we are ready for the challenge.
“My players like to play with pressure, they are used to it. The players enjoy this feeling.
“This season is the same, don’t think about anything other than the next game.
“Focus on winning the next game and then we will see what happens. We go to London and try to win.”
Makeshift left-back Gvardiol played a one-two with Kevin De Bruyne before he netted a clinical strike past Bernd Leno on 13 minutes.
The Croatia international doubled his tally in the second half when he stretched in the six-yard area to convert Bernardo Silva’s cross.
Guardiola credited the versatile defender’s opener but insisted his second-half performance needed to be better.
When asked what he expected from the 22-year-old when he joined from Leipzig last summer, Guardiola added: “I expected him to score some headers from set-pieces. He scored a fantastic goal and we played well in many aspects, there’s two games left.
“In the second half he didn’t play good. He lost a lot of duels. As a defender the most important thing is to be safe. They need to play so simple but this is the most difficult thing to do in football. His job is to be safe.”
Fulham struggled to find a rhythm in west London as they failed to breakdown City’s back four.
And Cottagers boss Marco Silva believes his side needed to be more aggressive if they were to have disrupted City’s title bid.
“It was a tough game as we expected,” Silva said.
“We have to do much better for the four goals. The first is a simple combination and we have to be more aggressive.
“When you concede goals like this against a top side like City, it makes everything a lot more difficult for us.” ■ ERIK ten Hag says he would never gamble with a player’s fitness as injury-hit Manchester United limp into today’s crunch clash with Arsenal.
The Red Devils have been beset by issues during a bumpy campaign that leaves them fighting for European qualification and to avoid recording their worst ever Premier League finish.
Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Scott Mctominay could return to the fold when United host title-chasing Arsenal, although a swathe of players remain unavailable.
Lisandro Martinez is among
the absentees and pleaded with Ten Hag to let him play today, but the manager says he will not rush him back despite his back line being as porous as it is patchy.
“He is desperate to play, he misses so much,” the United manager said. “The team missed him and he wants to play.
“But he had three injuries across the season and now he’s almost there, so injury free, so he’s in the end of the healing process and now he has to get back into team training, into matches.
“I will never do a gamble with a player. Never.
“It’s about them, futures.”
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