Manchester City

Manchester City

Premier League • England

Guardiola stokes rivalry with Man Utd reminder after explaining no sub decision

Pep Guardiola pointing

Pep Guardiola was keen to remind Manchester United of how well Manchester City have done at Old Trafford during his reign after their latest derby victory.

City claimed the bragging rights in the Manchester derby thanks to an Eric Bailly own goal and a finish from Bernardo Silva. The result means they are six points ahead of their rivals in the Premier League table.

It proved to be the perfect way for City to enter the international break as they aim to keep the pressure on Chelsea at the top of the table.

Questions will be asked once again on the other side of the Manchester divide. Guardiola may have rubbed some salt into their wounds by reminding them of City’s positive recent record at Old Trafford.

On this occasion, he once again felt they were good value for their victory.

He told Sky Sports: “Here at Old Trafford always a good performance in general since we are together. We have won many times, much more than at any other stadium.

“Solid performance, good game and deserved victory. Three more points.

“You have to put the ball in the fridge. A lot of passes, a lot of passes. Except 10 minutes in the middle when I thought we lose stupid ball, really good.

“The move is the ball, everyone has to be in their position. When you move much, not good. The ball comes where we are.”

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City had 16 shots in comparison to United’s five, but were only able to direct five on target.

Guardiola was asked if they should have scored more, but despite admitting how demanding he is, it didn’t seem to bother him too much.

He replied: “It is OK. I am so demanding, we are so demanding for ourselves but I am very pleased. This is the game we needed.

“They [Manchester United] are so dangerous. That is why we had a game with a lot of control. If you let them run at Old Trafford it is a little bit like Anfield. They are built for that.

“We played the game we needed today. You have to play quick, to move the ball and do the touches every player need but also try to put the ball in the pocket.”


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Guardiola explains no sub decision

Guardiola did not use any of his substitutes, explaining that he felt the game was “comfortable” enough for him not to worry.

He said: “The game was 2-0 and everything was comfortable. I felt didn’t need to change.”

City will need to maintain this kind of performance after the international break and beyond. Looking to retain their Premier League title, they know it will be a competitive remainder of the season.

Guardiola said: “Three games now 27 left. We dropped points at home [to Crystal Palace recently].

“Right now Chelsea are unstoppable. We know we cannot drop much points to be close to them but against the big six we performed well.

“The most important is we came to Old Trafford and can say these guys played good. This is what I am happy the most after six years here. We tried to play our game.”

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