Josep Guardiola watched Manchester City put on an incredible late show at Anfield to surprise Arne Slott’s Liverpool and keep Arsenal on the rise in the Premier League title race.
Josep Guardiola sets his sights on Arsenal after watching Manchester City vs. Liverpool at Anfield (Image: TNT Sports)
Erling Haaland spearheaded Manchester City’s stunning fightback, with Josep Guardiola insisting he was ready to pounce on Arsenal’s lapses.
City manager Guardiola watched as his players fought back from 1-0 down to stage a last-gasp comeback as Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off in a dramatic finale at Anfield. The move kept City within six points of leaders Arsenal, with Guardiola saying their heroics proved the title race was far from over.
“That’s why all we can do is breathe down Arsenal’s neck, be there and if they slip or make something (a mistake), we take advantage of it,” Guardiola said.
“It’s very difficult. Anfield is Anfield, the tradition, the history and the crowd. It always looks small and tight here, the pitch doesn’t look like the Etihad Stadium, and the players they have and everything.
read more: Liverpool vs Man City ends in chaos as Dominik Szoboszlai is sent off due to VARread more: Erling Haaland gives immediate verdict on Dominik Szoboszlai’s red card against Man City
“Of course it will be disappointing and the whole question is whether the title is over, but six points is better than nine. Considering how strong Arsenal are in all divisions, there are still a lot of points. It’s better to get them. I said the same thing, but 13 games in the Premier League is a lot.”
City midfielder Bernardo Silva even claimed that their title challenge would have been over if they had lost, leaving Arsenal nine points behind. “Before the game, the whole team was fired up. If we lose this game, our title fight is over. We felt we needed to win the game and this brought us even closer. We have hope and we will fight until the end. We need to continue to do the job we couldn’t do at the beginning of the year.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slott was furious at Szoboszlai’s red card and claimed City defender Marc Göch should have been sent off for pulling back Mo Salah.
Slott made a number of decisions that he felt disadvantaged him against Liverpool. City midfielder Rodri criticized the referee’s decision last week, but this time it was a big one.
Erling Haaland scores a late penalty to give City victory at Anfield (Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Slott said: “When I was asked about what decision, I wondered if they were talking about the canceled goal at City, the penalty they got in the away game against us, the obvious red card for Mo Salah in the second half here, or the penalty they got in the second half, or this decision (Szoboszlai’s red card).”
“It’s only been two games and the games after Liverpool, you know how many decisions I can come up with in all the other games. All big decisions that could have been 50-50 depending on the circumstances.”
“In the second half we pressed very high and played good football. You can’t compare this game to three or four months ago. We’ve improved a lot, but we need to improve our results. Many times this year we didn’t get what we thought we deserved, and it’s that time again.”
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