Pep Guardiola was delighted with Manchester City's performance against Brighton on Wednesday, but not for the reasons you might expect.
The newly crowned Premier League champions were unable to extend their all-win streak of 12 on the south coast, settling for a 1-1 draw in what was essentially dead rubber.
Phil Foden gave City the lead after Erling Haaland's selfless strike, before Julio Enciso scored a goal from distance to end an exciting half.
The second half was more tense, but Guardiola was delighted that his players had given it all.
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Indeed, a few days earlier, the Man City players had celebrated after winning the Premier League. Arsenal's loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday secured City a third consecutive title and they were handed the trophy following a 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.
That evening, the team hit the town. According to Guardiola, after an intense training session with a good performance is a pretty big achievement.
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"The game that we played, 48 hours after we finished drinking in Manchester, 48 hours later we performed well and showed why we are champions against this team," he said. after the game against Brighton.
If Pep's players are enjoying Manchester's nightlife on Sunday, he certainly isn't. "At 10'o clock:
At 30 o'clock I was in bed with my wife," the Man City boss told the club's website.
"I was exhausted. I watched Match of the day and slept like a baby. But I know the players did what they had to do. When you win the Premier League you have to celebrate it. Advertisement
Manchester City players celebrate their title in Manchester city centre. (Credit:
Alamy)
"They did it with their family, they enjoyed it... And the next morning, it was just sauna time, and the next day we talked a little bit in the afternoon, 'Guys. , you need to be ready and energized tomorrow night in Brighton', and they did!"
The result means City are on track to finish the season with 92 points, but more than that, Guardiola is pleased with the performance.
"It's important [to keep our momentum going]. We can't go down much, but it's okay to go down," he said. Advertisement
"I didn't see that today. Against Chelsea, I didn't see it. It's normal for us to lose points and a little bit of tension after [confirming] the title.
Several City players - including Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Manuel Akanji and Jack Grealish - did not participate in the trip to Brighton due to 'negligence'.
According to Guardiola, both Phil Foden and John Stones were given the second half off as a precaution. "They felt uncomfortable. Phil, that's why we made a substitution at the start of the second half five minutes. At the end of the second half John felt the tension and of course we had to be careful. The players. want to play as much as possible on the last day."
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