Pep Guardiola hails Manchester City’s ‘massive’ 2-1 EPL home win over Newcastle United
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Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly (left) with Newcastle United defender Dan Burn during City's 2-1 English Premier League win on Feb 21.
PHOTO: AFP
MANCHESTER – Pep Guardiola labelled Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Feb 21 as a “massive” moment in the English Premier League title race.
His second-placed side closed the gap on league leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Nico O’Reilly put City ahead in the first half and restored their lead before half-time after Lewis Hall had equalised for the visitors.
City were not at their best in the second half, but they held on to pile pressure on spluttering Arsenal, who travelled to Tottenham Hotspur for the north London derby which ended after press time.
Guardiola knew it was essential to make Arsenal sweat.
“Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s coming in best part of the season. Every single game will be similar to today.”
After finishing third last season, City are back in the hunt for the seventh Premier League title of Guardiola’s reign.
They will have a game in hand over Arsenal after this weekend and are guaranteed to clinch the title if they win their last 11 league matches.
Guardiola has embarked on an expensive overhaul of City’s squad in the past 12 months, shedding ageing stars like Kevin de Bruyne, Ederson and Kyle Walker while bringing in the likes of Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
The Spaniard is well aware that his new generation largely lacks the experience of winning under the pressure of a title race, which made their gritty success against Newcastle even more meaningful.
He said: “70 per cent of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this.
“Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people, really proud to be manager of these incredible people and fans.
“Of course, in terms of points it’s important, but we have to improve to have chance to compete until the end. Now we deserve three more days off. Then another battle in Leeds.”
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly for praise after the 20-year-old England midfielder’s clinical finishes showed he will not be affected by the strain of chasing Arsenal.
“Nico give us in the middle that physicality that we need. He now plays in his position,” the City boss added.
“He has always played that, he is so complete and so young. I am really pleased the academy produced these incredible players, Nico, Phil (Foden), Rico (Lewis).”
Manchester City custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma punching the ball away, as his Newcastle United counterpart Nick Pope attempted to score an equaliser in injury time.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Meanwhile, Brighton & Hove Albion’s James Milner broke the record for most Premier League appearances in their 2-0 win at Brentford on Feb 21.
The 40-year-old, whose former teams include City and Liverpool, made his 654th appearance to overtake Gareth Barry.
“It will be nice to stop talking about it!” said Milner, who made his Premier League debut as a 16-year-old for Leeds United in 2002. “To pass the mark, it’s obviously a big number, but it’s not something I’ve really concentrated on.
“Anyone who knows me knows I’m all about the team.”
First-half goals by Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck earned Brighton their first league win in seven matches. AFP, REUTERS
