Pep Guardiola says Manchester City’s 2-1 win at Huddersfield Town gave him more satisfaction than other more high-profile victories because of the way his side fought back in adversity.
City on Sunday secured an 11th successive league win, equaling a club record, and an 18th straight victory in all competitions after coming from a goal down at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Nicolas Otamendi’s own-goal gave Huddersfield a halftime lead, but Sergio Aguero equalized with a penalty before Raheem Sterling’s lucky finish, for his 12th goal of the season, won the match in the closing minutes.
Photo: Reuters
City are eight points clear at the top of the English Premier League and have enjoyed some big victories this season, notably beating Stoke City 7-2, Watford 6-0, and both Liverpool and Crystal Palace 5-0.
However, Guardiola ranked the win at Huddersfield above all of those when asked, arguing that the test they faced in west Yorkshire would benefit them much more than the bigger victories.
“Definitely. They were the same words I said in the locker room after the game. We need to win those kinds of games in that way. That is so important,” Guardiola said. “When you win well, people are happier and say nice words, but that is not reality at the high level of the sport. In a high level when you have one week’s rest and have time to prepare, you can score goals, but normally that can’t happen a lot of times.”
Sterling has now beaten his previous record for goals in a season — having never managed more than 11 in a campaign before.
Guardiola was delighted that the winger, who also won the penalty from which Aguero scored, is proving so prolific, but still believes there is more room for improvement.
“He is young, he can still improve, but now he is a winning player, he is winning games,” he said. “Before he made good actions, but now he wins games. We are in November and already he has made a record. He has improved, but not just in terms of goals. He is strong. Before, he lost a lot of balls. He keeps it much better now.”
Huddersfield boss David Wagner was proud of the way his team, promoted from the Championship via the playoffs in May, acquitted themselves against opponents widely expected to win the league this season.
“Where should I start? I am disappointed because of the result, but I am happy because of the defensive performance, the attitude, the desire, the passion, the emotion the players have shown,” Wagner said. “At the end, I think it makes total sense to take the positives out of this game. We defended well against the best team in the Premier League.”
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