Manchester City beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Etihad Stadium on this Saturday to edge closer to Premier League title. They reduced Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League to just three points.
Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan scored second-half goals as City overcame a game Villa in an eventful match.
Speaking in his press conference, City manager Pep Guardiola heaped praise on Sterling who opened the scoring after 46 minutes as the Skyblues were put under severe pressure during the first half before the trio combined in the second period to seal a victory.
“I am not concerned about the table. I am concerned all the time with how we play. If we play at the level we did in the second half, we can be there until the end of the season, I am sure of that.” Guardiola said.
“But if we play like we did in the first half, we will be relegated of in the relegation positions, far away from leading the table.
“We did not play the way we should play, and the only player who was aggressive when we had the ball was Raheem. In the second half we imitated him. He showed us the way we wanted to play, and it was much better.” Guardiola added.
Sterling is a totally different player and person under Guardiola. He is not a natural centre-forward but he has 12 goals already this season in all competitions. That is 12 goals in 13 appearances.
When asked about VAR who made controversial over Kevin De Bruyne and Silva goal, Guardiola said he’s not happy at having to talk about the new system.
“Why I have to answer all the time about VAR? Ask the referees, ask the bosses of VAR. we always have to have an opinion about this system.” Guardiola said.
“Ask the guys who take the decision. We are here to talk about the game not these kind of decisions. So all the managers, VAR, VAR.” the Spaniard added.
City faces Southampton in the fourth-round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
