Pep Guardiola gives honest assessment of Premier League title race after victory over Arsenal

City moved to the top of the Premier League table following a 3-1 win at the Emirates

Sarah Rendell
Thursday 16 February 2023 04:15 EST
Comments
'I still consider Arsenal top of the league' - Guardiola despite City moving above Gunners

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gave an honest assessment of the Premier League title race by admitting Arsenal have had better results than his club this season and the campaign is far from over.

City went above Arsenal on goal difference in the league on Wednesday night after defeating Mikel Arteta's side 3-1 at the Emirates. But Guardiola's team had to overcome an eight-point deficit in the top flight to chase down the Gunners.

And while City fans are celebrating being back on top, Guardiola is being realistic about the run in for the trophy.

He said: “There are still many games to play, the Champions League is coming, the Europa League is coming, so – but importantly is the fact we could have come here a few weeks ago eight or nine points behind and losing here will be almost over.

“Now for the fact that they dropped points, we came here for the chance to win the game and now we are there (level at the top of the league).

“So far they’ve got better results than us – this is the reality.”

Despite suggesting Arsenal have had better results than them this league season, City and Arsenal have both won 16 games and drawn three. Arteta's side have lost four with City losing three but Arsenal do have a game in hand.

And although Arsenal could still leapfrog their rivals, Arteta gave a frank reflection of the match.

“We are all feeling down, especially because they knew we could do much better today to get a very different result and we just give them the game,” the Arsenal boss said.

“We have to pick the points because the performances are there for sure. What we’ve done today against this team, believe me that wasn’t the game that they wanted to play.

“But we wanted the points and we didn’t get them and at the end the games are decided in the boxes and we have given too much away today. We weren’t ruthless enough to convert our chances."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in