Pep Guardiola insisted the Premier League title race is not over despite a damaging 1-1 draw at West Ham that left Manchester City trailing nine points behind leaders Arsenal on Saturday.
City squandered the lead given to them by Bernardo Silva in the first half at the London Stadium as Konstantinos Mavropanos headed West Ham’s equaliser before the interval.
Just hours after Arsenal scored twice in the final minutes of their 2-0 victory over Everton, Guardiola’s side were unable to muster a response.
Second-placed City have a game in hand on Arsenal and host the leaders in April, but with just eight matches left for the spluttering challengers, many pundits have written them off.
However, Guardiola remains defiant, claiming City will not throw in the towel.
“It’s not over. Who said that? We didn’t lose. We will continue,” he said.
“Nine points is a lot against Arsenal, but it happened. We have the game at home, so we have to try until the end.
“When it is not possible, then we congratulate the champion, but we have to try.”
The only team to win a Premier League title having ended a match at least nine points behind the leaders, having played 30 or more games, was City in 2013-14.
But City are hardly in peak form at present, drawing their last two league games against relegation-threatened West Ham and Nottingham Forest.
City were also brutally exposed in a 3-0 defeat at Real Madrid in the Champions League last-16 first leg in midweek.
They host the Spanish club in the second leg on Tuesday before facing Arsenal in the League Cup final and then meeting Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Gunners on the roll
However, for Arsenal, they move closer to winning the title as Max Dowman became the youngest scorer in English Premier League history as his incredible breakaway goal sealed an important win over Everton to put Arsenal nine points clear.
With Jordan Pickford caught upfield for an Everton corner in a remarkable finale after Viktor Gyokeres had made the 89th-minute breakthrough, Dowman, aged 16 years and 73 days old, charged forward on the break and rolled into an empty net.
The historic goal, his first for Arsenal, sparked wild celebrations inside the Emirates Stadium and capped a game-changing cameo by Dowman, who created the first goal when his cross was missed by Pickford and bounced into the path of Gyokeres.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
