Pep Guardiola shower praises on his wingers for a splendid display against Spurs
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was proud of his team’s fighting spirit after they battled to a 1-0 win at Tottenham and returned to the Premier League’s top four.
Having missed Man City’s back-to-back defeats against Real Madrid and Liverpool with a knee injury, Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the game from Jeremy Doku’s cutback in the 12th minute.
City had to weather plenty of Tottenham pressure in the second half after dominating the opening period.
The 1-0 win saw City move back above Chelsea in the table and go one point behind third-placed Nottingham Forest, who they face in their next league game on 8 March.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Guardiola said: “We’re really happy for the victory and for the three points, we needed it.
“The second half was really open because we didn’t close it down. In the first we had too many clear chances and for the quality we have, we had to convert.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t and then you know in the second half you are going to suffer, but we did it. The guys fought, but here is always a difficult, difficult place to come.”
Belgium International Doku was one of City’s standout performers, creating clear-cut chances for both Savinho and Haaland after setting up the opener, and Guardiola was impressed by both Doku and Savinho.
“We played well with the wingers – Savinho and Jeremy were outstanding. We did very, very good things. In general, we played a very good game,” Guardiola said.
“Jeremy is direct, he’s a threat in the final third. He made an incredible assist, and when a player can dribble they open spaces for other players.”
Haaland had a potential second goal disallowed in stoppage time, with a VAR review confirming Jarred Gillett’s on-field decision to penalise him for handball as he burst between Archie Gray and Kevin Danso.
“I didn’t see it, but the referee was much, much quicker to disallow the goal than the VAR, so he’s very clever and fast,” Guardiola smiled.
“In the end we won, so it doesn’t matter, but they had one more chance at the end, so it’s difficult.”
Haaland was more forthright when asked about his disallowed goal, saying the incident could have resulted in a penalty for City.
“I think it’s the wrong decision, clearly. I think it’s more of a penalty than a free-kick, but because he gave the decision on the pitch, that’s why he stood by it,” Haaland said.
“But I don’t think that’s ever handball. I think it’s completely wrong, so that’s me. It’s more of a penalty, that’s my opinion. It was a great goal too, so it’s sad.”
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