LONDON: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hailed his 鈥渋ncredible鈥� Manchester City players after they sealed a very comfortable 2-0 win at Fulham on Saturday.
Goals from Bernardo Silva and club legend Sergio Aguero in the first half were enough for City to move ahead of title rivals Liverpool in the Premier League table ahead of the Merseyside club鈥檚 crucial clash with Tottenham Hotspur today.
The 2-0 scoreline flattered relegation-bound Fulham, as City completely dominated the game, and the the rhythm the Manchester club showed after the two-week international break particularly impressed Guardiola.
鈥淥ur first 15-20 minutes was one of the best of the season. We played with incredible spirit, we could have scored more. After the goals we controlled it,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t was an incredible result after the international break and having played away. We did what we should do.
鈥淎fter the break playing at home is different to playing away. Always you have doubts about how they鈥檙e going to react.
鈥淔ulham was a tough game for Liverpool and Chelsea so we knew it was going to be tricky, (playing at) 12:30 on Saturday, a sunny day.
鈥淭hat is unusual and that is why I am so satisfied.鈥�
Liverpool can regain pole position in the table if they beat Tottenham at Anfield today, but City have a game in hand and will definitely be crowned champions for a second successive season if they win their last seven matches.
However, Guardiola refuses to look that far ahead just yet and he urged his players to take it one game at a time.
鈥淟iverpool and Man City have done incredible so far so deserve the credit. We will have 80 points with six games to play if we win next week,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e are going to do everything to win. No matter the next competition, we will win the game.鈥�
City, who have already won the League Cup, remain in contention for an unprecedented quadruple as they chase Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup glory.
But Guardiola said: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 think too much about what people say about the quadruple. Enjoy the moment and dream to win another game.鈥�
鈥淓very game we have to win if we want to be champions. We have tough opponents, but that is the challenge,鈥� he added.
Guardiola admitted that he would have to make changes ahead of what will be a packed schedule for Manchester City.鈥ㄢ€淣ext game on Wednesday (against Cardiff) we are going to change a few players. It is important for the rhythm, Fernandinho is still far away from his rhythm. Wednesday we have another one, Saturday we have the (FA Cup) semifinal, Tuesday is Champions League, so we need everybody.鈥�
Aguero, who scored his 19th Premier League goal to go top of the Golden Boot standings, was taken off with 57 minutes gone with what looked to be a slight injury, but Guardiola was not worried after the match.
鈥淭omorrow we have the real assessment, he says he felt something but not injured. For precaution he decided not to continue, hopefully it鈥檚 nothing serious.鈥�
Fulham, by contrast, remain 13 points adrift of safety with just 18 left to play for and failed to register a single shot on target at home for the first time in nine years.
鈥淔rom the outset we knew the challenge ahead was against a really good team. We made a nervous start and when you go 1-0 down after five minutes, it was always going to be a tough hill to climb and so it proved. In saying that, I thought we dug in and showed some bits at times against a world-class side,鈥� Fulham caretaker boss Scott Parker said.
鈥淲e are realistic, the main focus in the last six games is to keep pushing and end the season on a positive in a disappointing campaign,鈥� he added.