CITY Pep hails first half show as ‘best ever’
PEP Guardiola says City produced their best half of football in his reign as manager to see off Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Blues eased to a 2-0 half-time lead through David Silva and Aymeric Laporte in their Champions League group game in Kharkiv, and wrapped it up with a third from Bernardo Silva after the break.
But that first-half showing was outstanding, claimed Guardiola, who said: “Our first half was the best first-half performance we have played in the last three seasons.
“We created a lot of chances and didn’t concede any until the last few minutes. We were under a lot of pressure after the defeat by Lyon but now we are in a good position.
“We can control our destiny now. We saw in the second half what Shakhtar Donetsk can do – but it’s so important to get this result and we will enjoy this and in the next days this victory.
“We have recovered well from Lyon and now it’s in our hands.”
But there was one aspect of City’s game which Guardiola believes the Blues have to improve if they are to go deep into the competition.
They had 24 shots on target in Kharkiv but only managed three goals – and that kind of wastefulness could haunt them once the opposition gets harder, the manager believes.
“In the last few games we shoot Pep Guardiola more, but when I talk about chances to win the Champions League, and these kinds of things, we have to increase our average,” he said. “We missed a lot of clear chances. When you arrive in the later stages we have to be more clinical. We have to be solid as a team, like we were in the first half. It was good to see how we did it.
“The Champions League is a difficult competition. I’m so happy with the way we played after Burnley – travel, and to play with this personality.
“To score three against Shakhtar is an incredible result, amazing.”