Goals from Raheem Sterling, Christian Kabasele and Sergio Aguero helped leaders Manchester City got back on track with a 3-1 win against Watford in an English Premier League (EPL) match on Tuesday night.
Now, unbeaten City are 15 points clear of second-placed Manchester United as they continue to turn the title race into a lengthy coronation party.
Reacting to the win, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said that his team could have scored more goals. “It was the first time we dropped points in 18 games and the reaction you saw, except 15 minutes in the first half when we were not good enough. We lose simple balls. They create two or three chances. In the second half, when we could be tired, it was completely the opposite. We could have scored more,” said Guardiola, according to the official website of Manchester City.
Praising Kevin De Bruyne, who started for City just two days after being stretchered off with a leg injury against Crystal Palace, Guardiola said, “De Bruyne went out in the afternoon. He said ‘I want to play’. He was in pain because it was a kick [against Palace] but if he wants to play I want him to play. Nothing will change my opinion about his quality, everyone knows about his quality. Kevin wanted to play. Everyone will try to follow his desire.”
Meanwhile, the manager wasn’t happy with the workload placed on players over the festive period.
“What I saw in the last weeks, how many injuries the players have. We are going to kill them. The federation needs to reflect. I know the show must go on but this is not normal. They make a lot of control anti-dopings and control us – but we don’t protect the players,” Guardiola was quoted by www.mancity.com.
“The people come here to watch the players and enjoy their performances. Not the managers in the press conferences or journalists. In England, you don’t protect the players. You can’t play every two days. “The tradition is the tradition, we have to think about it a little bit. The players are artists and they are the reason we are here,” said Guardiola.