Pep Guardiola was delighted with the way in which Manchester City bounced back from their loss at Newcastle to close the gap on leaders Liverpool to two points ahead of the Reds’ match against West Ham tonight.
The manager said: “Against Newcastle we scored a goal (in the first minute) and didn’t try again and again. No fight and (not) trying to have the intensity to score a second goal.
“Then a few days later we score the first goal (again in the opening minute), we try to get the second one and try to score more.
“That is the big lesson we can learn. When that happens, OK, we are a team who can be proud for what we do.”
Guardiola, whose men travel to Everton on Wednesday, said when asked about the title race: “Many things are going to happen. Now we are two (points behind), tomorrow it can be three or two or it can be five again.
“I’m not in the mind of Jurgen (Klopp, the Liverpool manager) or the players.
“Every press conference, we put pressure on Liverpool, pressure onto us, ‘what do you think about Liverpool?’ I don’t know really.
“What we have to do is try to make a good performance and be ourselves. That is the main target we want to achieve and win our games. That’s all.”
Guardiola added: “I prefer to be in the position of Liverpool. I said many times I prefer to be there than in the position we are.
“The pressure is when you are behind. If you lose points, it will be tougher. When you are at the top with distance, always you can drop points and still you are there.”
As for hat-trick hero Sergio Aguero, Guardiola said: “He was born with that talent, he will die with that talent.”
Yesterday’s defeat saw Arsenal fall to sixth in the hunt for a top-four finish and manager Unai Emery believes it showed how far his side have to go.
“When we were doing a little bit more attacking and opening space, they show they are better than us at the moment,” Emery said. “I think the result is the difference between Manchester City and Arsenal.
“The difference with City is shown today. With Liverpool (the difference) is big. Tottenham are keeping a lot of consistency in matches and taking a lot of points.
“We have to think game by game, keep our consistency. Today we lost but we are looking ahead.
“We know it is difficult and we need time but we must be demanding of ourselves.”
Emery still believes that Arsenal can earn a top-four finish and, beyond that, close the gap on the Premier League’s best so long as they learn the lessons from their latest defeat.
“First is the (difference in) quality,” he said. “We cannot stop that. My players worked and struggled but they showed their capacity.
“OK, for now, we are behind Man City, we accept that. But 38 matches can give us opportunity to improve and be closer to the top four. Today is for us to learn, work harder but recognise the superiority in different situations.”