PEP Guardiola sees the fight for the Premier League title getting more intense after watching his Manchester City side lose 3-2 at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night.
Harry Kane scored twice in the second half, one in the fifth minute of injury time, after new signing Dejan Kulusevski had given Spurs an early lead, while Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez netted for City.
The defeat, which ended City’s 15-match unbeaten run, means Guardiola’s are only six points ahead of title rivals Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
“I said a few weeks ago we need to win many games,” Guardiola said in his post-match interview. “Every game will be a big, big battle.
“We knew it, and it will be good to understand how difficult it is. Since October we didn’t lose one game in the Premier League. I had the feeling they (Spurs) have fantastic players and a fantastic manager.
“We knew after three defeats they would be back. There was practically no space in the area. After that, they could keep the ball and with Kane, it gave time to Son who could run. In general we were there all the time. We were there but we couldn’t win.”
Tottenham Hotspur ended a miserable run of three straight league defeats and kept up their top four challenge with the win.
They moved to within four points of fourth-placed Manchester United, who have played two games more.
