Manchester City failed to respond to Arsenal’s win and were held to a stalemate against West Ham, leaving them nine points off the top of the table, but Josep Guardiola refuses to surrender in the Premier League title race.
Manager Josep Guardiola sees Man City slipping further back in the title race
Manager Josep Guardiola insists Manchester City’s title hopes are “not over”, despite insisting that only a win over West Ham would end their chances in the Premier League on Friday.
Arsenal beat Everton with two late goals, extending their lead to 10 points before City face the Hammers on Saturday. Due to the touchline ban, the Catalans watched from the stands, but the team failed to show the necessary response and the London Stadium scored just one point.
It was their second recent setback after losing the lead against Nottingham Forest. As a result, Arsenal progressed further into the match and took a nine-point lead, but time was running out for City to corner the North Londoners.
Guardiola is aiming for a seventh Premier League title but knows his team has little to no room for error. As a result, the player said before the match: “Right now it’s West Ham who are defining the Premier League. The league is the most difficult title. I believe it’s the most difficult title. We go there now knowing that if we drop a point, it’s over.”
However, shortly after the draw, City took the lead with a goal from Bernardo Silva, and although former captain Konstantinos Mavropanos scored for the hosts, Guardiola did not give up.
read more: Ex-Arsenal star gives Gunners a huge thumbs up as West Ham lowers hopes of Man City winning titleread more: Mikel Arteta reveals what he said to Arsenal prodigy Max Doman before Everton’s goal
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“No, it’s not over. We’re not defeated. We’ll continue,” he told TNT Sports.
Guardiola’s side still need to welcome Arsenal at home, and while they have a chance to close the gap by three points, they could still remain three points ahead if they win the game in front of them. Mikel Arteta’s side will still need help from elsewhere if they are to overhaul their side and claim the title again.
The city’s forgotten week ends. A few days earlier, they had lost 3-0 to Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, and were given the incredibly difficult task of hosting the Spanish team a few days later. Then they saw their title hopes take a huge hit.
Arsenal’s victory allows them to further extend their advantage at the top of the table.
City’s struggles are partly due to Erling Haaland’s lack of goals. The Norwegian scored goals with incredible regularity at the beginning of the season, but red flags were raised given the team’s dependence on the star striker. His decline in form had a direct impact on the results.
Guardiola admitted the former Borussia Dortmund man was needed to return to active duty, but was confident of rediscovering his goal-scoring touch.
“Of course we miss him because there were no goals,” he said. “I always believe it’s a connection and a lot of things create good interactions. But Erling, we need his goals. We need to create more. Like he had three chances there (in the first half). We have to create a threat that we didn’t have at times. He’ll be back.”
Next weekend is City’s chance to negatively impact Arsenal’s season and gain a psychological advantage when they face them in the Carabao Cup final. The country’s two best teams will compete for silverware in the first match at Wembley on Sunday.
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