LONDON – Manchester City kept the pressure on leaders Arsenal with a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest on April 28 but manager Pep Guardiola said they still have a mountain to climb in their bid for a fourth straight English Premier League crown.

Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland scored either side of half-time at the City Ground as Guardiola’s team moved to 79 points from 34 games. Arsenal have 80 points from 35 games.

Asked about City’s chances of winning the Premier League, Guardiola said: “It’s far away. Ask me this question when we are top of the league and (have) one game left. But with four games left it’s like (we have to) climb a big mountain. It’s in our hands... We draw a game we are not going to win the Premier League.”

While Arsenal’s title charge fizzled out in the last few weeks last season, Mikel Arteta’s side are not going away this year, showing grit to hold on for a 3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur earlier on April 28.

Guardiola does not expect them to falter again.

“We prefer (if) they lose but we cannot control what they do. They make a good result and yeah, it’s four games left,” he said. “I think (they’re) not going to lose any points and we know exactly what we have to do.”

Croatia defender Gvardiol opened the scoring, heading in Kevin de Bruyne’s corner shortly after the half-hour mark, and Haaland coolly slotted home after another assist from the impressive de Bruyne in the 71st minute.

De Bruyne has played just 21 of City’s 54 games this season but no player in the Premier League has more assists in all competitions in 2023-24 than the Belgian’s 14.

Forest, who remain just one point clear of the drop zone with three games to play, will rue a number of squandered opportunities, including two glaring misses from forward Chris Wood.

Forest had more shots in both of their Premier League games against City this campaign. They are just the second team to outshoot a Guardiola side both home and away in his top-flight managerial career since Real Madrid in 2009-10.

Despite the profligacy, manager Nuno Espirito Santo was pleased with the fight his squad showed.

“We played a good game, we were organised, compact, we had chances,” he said. “We did a good job, regarding the opponent, how hard it is for them to play City.

“With the attitude, and the way we played, we’re going to achieve what we want (avoiding relegation), this is more important.” REUTERS, AFP