Pep Guardiola says it’s good to be closing in on Arsenal, but what’s more important for his side is finding consistency in their own performances.
Saturday was certainly a very positive day for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
First, he watched Premier League leaders Arsenal suffer a late defeat to Aston Villa. Then, his team eased to a comfortable 3-0 win over Sunderland.
The net result was that City cut the gap at the top of the table from five points at the start of the day to just two at the end of it. But when speaking about that fact following his team’s win, Guardiola insisted that’s not the most important factor in City’s title chances.
“We can talk about of course it’s better to be closer to first and top of the league,” Guardiola began.
“But from my experience – I’m sorry I don’t want to feel arrogant but I have quite a lot of experience to win Premier Leagues and titles – it’s the consistency.
“And the consistency comes just from one thing, the way you play. Not for a result one day, or victory and be two points behind, or four points in front. It’s the consistency and how you perform and how much you grow during the year.”
It’s perhaps fair to say City have struggled for that consistency this season so far. Guardiola’s side are yet to win more than three Premier League games in a row, and their longest unbeaten run is just five matches long.
Even in their current three-game win streak, there was a huge scare away to Fulham, with City leading 5-1 but conceding three goals to eventually win 5-4. A last-minute goalline clearance denied the hosts an equaliser for what would have been a historic example of throwing a lead away.
City’s consistency will be tested this week, as they travel away to Real Madrid in the Champions League before playing Crystal Palace away from home in the Premier League.
On paper, those are two tough games, and two matches that could threaten to halt the team’s momentum once again. Arsenal fans will certainly hope so.