Pep Guardiola, in his usual fashion of propping up his opponents before and after a match, stated that Nottingham Forest were a hard team to beat despite his side running out 2 – 0 winners over the weekend.
Goals from Joško Gvardiol and Erling Haaland helped the Cityzens take all three points home from City Ground but Guardiola opines that their 1 – 1 draw at the same grounds last season was easier for them than their 2 – 0 win on Sunday.
“[It was] really hard,” he said. “Last season we drew and played much better than today.
“Knowing the circumstances that we arrived here, we knew the game that was going to happen.
“We were so lucky that the pitch was so dry. With the chances they had, with better pitch conditions, they would have scored.
“We were incredibly fortunate for that. We suffered but when {statorium_player pid=214 sid=252 text=”[Mateo Kovacic]”} came on in the second half and {statorium_player pid=94 sid=252 text=”Bernardo [Silva]”} was involved in there, we were much, much better.”
Guardiola also expressed happiness at City’s 14th straight qualification for the Champions League which was achieved by defeating forest on Sunday.
“My CEO and owner will be so happy,” he said. “We are going to be in Champions League, how many teams would love that?
“It is really good news. I’ve said it many times that it’s the most important target. We did it with four games left. Big congratulations to the club and my players to achieve that.”
Gvardiol, who is now on a scoring run since opening his Man City account in the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid, also had things to say about the game.
He expressed joy at getting another goal while praising his team for keeping up the fight with Arsenal, who are trying to take the title from them.
“It was really tough, we knew from the beginning of the game that it would be like that.
“Especially because of the pitch because it was really dry, but again, it’s an important three points that we go back home with.
“My second goal in the league, I didn’t expect that I was going to score but I found myself in the position and it was a good goal in the end.”
Then he urged his teammates to keep up the fight for the title with a small motivational statement: “To be fair we need to be focused on ourselves, that’s what we’re doing. Four more finals until the end, let’s do it.”
