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Manchester City, who have had an extraordinary season written off, made a stunning statement on Wednesday as they beat title rivals Arsenal 3-1 to go top of the Premier League.
As City’s players celebrated in front of their traveling fans at the final whistle in one corner of the Emirates Stadium, Pep Guardiola’s face was filled with a smile, perhaps a little relieved.
Just moments ago, Guardiola was punching the air with joy as second-half goals from Jack Grealish and Erljs Haaland lifted City to the top of the table.
Bukayo Saka’s controversial free-kick wasn’t enough to shake the champions’ balance as Kevin De Bruyne put City ahead as they rode Arsenal’s first-half storm on a rainy night in north London.
After trailing Arsenal by eight points a month ago, City are now in contention for the title.
Arsenal may have a game in hand, but it was City who finished the tie in the cup.
Guardiola has been waiting for this moment as his City stars still have the hunger they need to win the title.
There was no doubt that Guardiola, the arch-rival, would be looking to lift the Premier League title for the fifth time in six seasons, but it was not always clear that his side wanted to succeed.
Defeats to Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham, as well as home defeats to Brentford and League Cup defeats to Southampton, made it look like all was not well in the City camp.
Guardiola’s inquisitive approach and surprise decision to allow Joao Cancelo to join Bayern Munich on loan in January have added to the team spirit amid Arsenal’s revival under former assistant Mikel Arteta.
Even Erling Haaland’s goalscoring haul has come with warnings that the Norwegian striker’s style of play may not suit Guardiola’s philosophy.
– ‘The focus was there’ –
But while the critics sharpened their knives, Guardiola saw signs in training ahead of their seismic display against Arsenal that his side were about to deliver on their points to the doubters.
“When we were second in the table, we were always there. But we had the feeling that we needed a little more. In training this week, the feeling, the focus, the focus was there,” said Guardiola.
Guardiola admitted his tactics against Arsenal – including starting midfielder Bernardo Silva at left-back – had to be changed at half-time, but a change in attitude among the players was just as important.
“Arsenal were better in the first half, we were soft, my plan wasn’t good,” Guardiola said.
“It was not easy to play against them, but we were still in the game, we were focused, and in the end the quality of the players showed the difference.”
Grealish confirmed that the city was completely fixed in the task.
“Honestly we were saying today. You know you get games where you talk to each other and everybody seems focused on the game today,” Grealish said.
“To be honest, I thought Arsenal were the better team, but to win trophies you have to come to places like this and win even if you’re not at your best.”
Despite sitting pretty at the top, Guardiola refuses to label City as title favourites.
“We beat Arsenal at the Emirates and they have one game in hand so I think they are still top of the league. There are still a lot of games to go and the Champions League is coming up,” he said.
“If we had trailed by eight or nine points here, it would have been the end but we had a chance to be close and we took it.
“If you want the crown, fight for it. We still want it.”
smg/pb
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