Pep Guardiola said he’s sure Manchester City can handle the pressure of a tight title race after a nervous night against Burnley.
City won 1-0 at Turf Moor on Wednesday to go top of the Premier League table ahead of Arsenal on goal difference and relegate Burnley in the process.
There were some tense moments for Guardiola’s team — particularly when goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka came up for a stoppage-time corner — but it got over the line.
“I don’t have a machine or something like that. How was your pressure today? How do you feel? Were you nervous or not nervous?” said Guardiola.
“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that this, for the future, for all of them, for all of us, in this club will be good, as much you experience, as much as you’ve been there many times, you handle it better.
“But in general, in the way we play it was really, really, really good. So, the commitment, the way, how many plays arrive, and we just missed a little bit that moment.”
It looked like City might be able to boost their goal difference when Erling Haaland opened the scoring after just five minutes.
But they were wasteful after that and ended the night with 28 shots and an xG of 3.5 with only one goal to show for it.
“I think we played really, really good,” said Guardiola. “I didn’t see all the images and the chances that we had, but I had a feeling that we had a lot.
“And just for many of these types of games, we score the second on the third, for the chances that we create, we deserve it.”
Arsenal has the chance to restore their lead in the Premier League this weekend against Newcastle, while City take part in the FA Cup semifinals against Southampton.
