Pep takes a dig at Wembley pitch

PEP GUARDIOLA praised his side for digging out a 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur on a shoddy Wembley pitch on Monday and said the poor playing surface may have saved his side.

City had failed to build on the sixth-minute lead given to them by Riyad Mahrez and looked as though they might pay when Erik Lamela sized up a great late chance.

The Argentine looked poised to equalise for Tottenham as the ball was played to him by Dele Alli, but it appeared to bobble slightly and Lamela blazed the chance over.

City’s sixth consecutive clean sheet in the Premier League took the champions back to the top, above Liverpool on goal difference.

“It was not football conditions to play. We reacted well. For our players and the players of Tottenham, hopefully they will sort the problem for the future,” Guardiola said of a surface sporting gridiron lines, divots and a huge faded-out NFL logo in the centre circle after Sunday’s NFL game between Philadelphia and Jacksonville.

“To play a football match on that pitch it’s not easy. There were many mistakes that don’t normally happen. It was something incredible. I don’t think the grass helped them either.

“If the grass is good then Lamela, a player of his quality with his left foot, scores. If (it) hadn’t bounced (badly), not good.”

It was generous of Guardiola who was kicking the air in frustration at times, especially when David Silva wasted an open goal to make it 2-0 shortly after halftime.

“In the first 15-20 minutes of the second half we should have the game over,” the Spaniard said. |