Pep Guardiola insisted that Manchester City will breathe down Arsenal’s neck until the very last kick of the Premier League title race after beating Brentford.
Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush scored in the 3-0 victory that cut the gap to two points before Arsenal’s trip to West Ham United on Sunday.
A buoyant Guardiola finished his media duties by shouting ‘Come on you Irons’ while crossing his arms as he gears up to watch Mikel Arteta’s trip to the London Stadium.
‘We will do our job,’ he said. ‘We will do our job and wait. It is not in our hands. We didn’t do it perfectly with Everton.
‘Everton was the real proof of not giving up, 3-1 down and emotions. The second half we gave it away. It happened last season many times, now we’re more solid but we still give away. That’s football, it’s how you react. I’m pleased for the way we have done it.
‘It’s simple, in two weeks the season will be over, and we have to, in every moment, play with the spirit I have seen. This is a team that defines.’
Pep Guardiola crossed his arms to gesticulate the Hammers sign after his side’s 3-0 win
Jeremy Doku was the star of the show again as Man City won to pile pressure on Arsenal
Guardiola added: ‘I love it. I love to be here again. To finish second again as a minimum – I love it. I didn’t enjoy last season and the moment to fight to qualify for the Champions League was difficult but the Carabao Cup is in our pocket and the FA Cup final at Wembley next week is the most beautiful day of the season and I love it.
‘You can see how the players help each other in every training session and it is a joy. It’s an honour to be here. I’d love to be 20 points in front but that’s not the case against an incredible Arsenal team.’
City, who drew at West Ham in March, were inspired by another mesmeric Doku performance, opening the scoring after a brace against Everton.
‘Look at his last three goals, incredible, I’m super happy for him,’ Haaland said. ‘He’s been working hard to improve his shooting and passes and you can see how much he’s developed – hard and smart work pays off.
‘I can’t think of title race, or Arsenal, it’s just about trying to help Man City win the game. Everton was a disappointment as we didn’t win – we can’t think about them or Brentford now, we have four more finals.’
Brentford boss Keith Andrews bemoaned Michael Salisbury’s decision not to award a penalty when Kevin Schade went down when through on goal while City led 1-0, the result leaving them four points behind Bournemouth in sixth.
‘The comment I heard (from the referee) was not enough contact,’ Andrews said. ‘For someone who is as quick as Kevin Schade, I don’t know how much contact it needs. Not with how quick Kev is. It’s disappointing.
‘The officials have a really difficult job with the speed of the game it’s so hard. Players are trying to get decisions. I just felt we were going to get one.
‘In what world he (chooses to) go down is beyond me. I’m struggling to comprehend it.’
