If Manchester City beat West Ham on Sunday, they will clinch the Premier League title, according to Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola praised Mikel Arteta’s remarkable job at Arsenal, recognizing the unlikely scenario where they could still win the title.
Erling Haaland, City’s goal scorer, encouraged his teammates to stay relaxed ahead of their crucial match against West Ham.
Despite the pressure, Haaland acknowledged Tottenham’s strength and the challenges they faced in securing their victory.
The narrative leading up to the match highlighted the possibility of Spurs fans preferring a loss to benefit Arsenal’s title chances.
Haaland reflected on the nervousness within the team but emphasized the importance of focusing on their tasks and securing the win.
Despite the late stage of the season, Guardiola remains confident that his former assistant at City will persist, even though the chances of Arsenal clinching the title now seem slim.
He told beIN Sports: ‘What can I say? He’s an incredible manager what they have done this season with Arsenal.
And he will not give up, they will try to win against Everton and wait what happens. But it’s what we want, the game depends on us…’
Erling Haaland, the scorer of both goals last night, advised his City teammates to “relax” in preparation for the upcoming game against West Ham.
‘Yeah, fantastic mentality,’ Haaland told City+. ‘Focus on game by game and now relax. We came here to try to win and we won.
‘Focus on the next game and try not to think too much. Let’s get all together and finish this.’
Much of the pre-match narrative had surrounded how sections of Spurs’ fan-base were happy to lose given what a positive result against Guardiola’s team would mean for Arsenal.
Despite this, Ange Postecoglou’s team demonstrated a strong start and could have secured a draw if Son Heung-min hadn’t squandered a golden opportunity late in the game, facing only substitute goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
‘They’re a fantastic team,’ Haaland said of Spurs. ‘You know everyone knows that they want to play all the time and all praise to them. It was really difficult, but yeah, we came here to try and win and we won. That’s my only thing and I’m happy.
‘I think we were a bit nervous. I think that’s normal, there’s a lot of emotions for everyone. Everyone knows the situation, but it’s about not thinking too much. Try to focus on your things to do and try to win.’
