Premier League: Pep Guardiola praises Man City’s battling qualities

Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola breathed a huge sigh of relief after his side were made to work hard to maintain their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.

The Sky Blues turned round a goal down at Huddersfield after Nicolas Otamendi put the ball into his own net just before half-time. It was an extraordinary end to a first-half dominated by the visitors, but the Sky Blues levelled two minutes into the second-half through a Sergio Aguero penalty after Scott Malone had impeded Raheem Sterling.

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The winner came six minutes from time and in bizarre fashion as the rebound from Gabriel Jesus’s initial shot hit Sterling and looped up and into the Huddersfield net.

It was tough on the Terriers, but few would dispute that City were the far superior team. They deserved the three points in what was a full-blooded clash marred by the late dismissal of Rajiv van la Parra for squaring up to Leroy Sane.

“The Premier League is so tough, now winter has come, we knew they were so aggressive so strong, but we are so happy for the way we won,” said Guardiola. “The guys competed amazingly, which is why we won.”

Asked if he was rattled by conceding a goal just before the interval, Guardiola replied: “We spoke at half-time about how to react, we had enough chances to score and the first time Huddersfield had a chance they scored. We spoke about not giving up, to keep going.”

The win puts City eight points clear at the top of the table and extends their winning run to 18 matches in all competitions. It was their 11th successive away win.

For those who enjoy the finer points of statistics, the victory was also the first time in 22 years that City have won an away league match after trailing at half-time.

Sterling had no doubt it was a penalty. He was full of praise for his teammates’ determination in the second-half of a gritty encounter. “I always had belief, from what I’ve seen this season from the boys, the work rate, the mentality,” he said. “We’ve had to try and be killers and I think we showed that in the second half.”

Huddersfield boss David Wagner displayed rare honesty for a football manager in his post-match interview, conceding that “it was a penalty to City, it was holding in the box”. He added: “The players have done everything to get a draw, they were solid and focused. Unfortunately we were not able to get over the line… We have played 13 games in the Premier League and have proved we are competitive. I take a lot of positives, it is unfortunate about the result.”

Burnley 0 Arsenal 1

Burnley fans were also left feeling aggrieved at having points ripped out of their grasp yesterday.

Visitors Arsenal looked like they would be leaving Turf Moor with just a point as neither side managed to break the deadlock over the course of the 90 minutes. But two minutes into stoppage time the Gunners were awarded a penalty when referee Lee Mason adjudged defender James Tarkowski to have pushed Aaron Ramsey.

Alexis Sanchez made no mistake from the penalty spot with a goal that took the Gunners into fourth, one point ahead of Tottenham, who were held 1-1 at home to WBA.

“Football is a harsh game and sometimes it hurts you,” said Burnley manager Sean Dyche. “There is a lot of me inside that is raging a lot. It was highly unlikely it [the penalty] was not going to get given on a day like today, that’s all I will say.”

Premier League results

• West Ham United 1 Leicester City 1
• Crystal Palace 2 Stoke City 1
• Manchester United 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 0
• Newcastle United 0 Watford 3
• Swansea City 0 AFC Bournemouth 0
• Tottenham Hotspur 1 West Bromwich Albion 1
• Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
• Southampton 4 Everton 1
• Burnley 0 Arsenal 1
• Huddersfield Town 1 Manchester City 2