CITY INCH THEIR WAY TO THE TITLE

Pep closes in on crown as winner crosses line by 29mm

pEp GUARDIOLA was bullish about Manchester City’s prospects of defending the premier League title after the tightest of 1-0 wins at Burnley.

Sergio Aguero’s 20th goal of the season was awarded by goal- line technology — it crossed the line by 29mm — with City now just two wins away from consecutive titles.

Guardiola is backing his squad to see the job through against Leicester City and at Brighton. ‘Against Leicester, one of the most talented teams right now, we are going to get three more points,’ Guardiola said. ‘Then go to Brighton to get the win, the points we need to get back-to-back. Be calm again, we don’t have a game until next Monday so we’ll rest a little, recover a bit.’

Guardiola finished with six defenders on the pitch. ‘I was trembling,’ he joked. ‘We didn’t have another defender. I’d have brought another on if we did.’

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Line of duty: Burnley defender Matt Lowton just fails to keep out the shot by a grounded Sergio Aguero (far left)