Pep Guardiola told his players to “take a lot of caipirinhas, daiquiris” to handle the pressure of the title chase after Manchester City beat Newcastle 2-1 to close to within two points of Arsenal.
Two goals from Nico O’Reilly on 14 and 27 minutes at the Etihad Stadium were answered only by Lewis Hall’s strike in between as City moved to 56 points and a goal difference of 31, one fewer than Arsenal’s.
While Mikel Arteta’s team can widen the gap to five points if they win at Tottenham on Sunday, they will have played a game more. As Arsenal are at City on 18 April the title is in each side’s hands.
City next play Leeds on Saturday, returning to training on Wednesday before the game. As a large proportion of Guardiola’s team has never won the Premier League under him, the manager was asked how confident he was regarding their mental courage to deal with the pressure.
“I say to the players: ‘Guys, what we have to do is take a lot of caipirinhas, daiquiris in these three days [off]! Enjoy life. And after that, make a proper three training sessions, and go to Leeds,’” said the manager. “70% of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this. Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people.”
The 55-year-old is unsure if he will watch Arsenal’s game. “I am on holiday so don’t know,” he said.
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Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle key facts
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• Nico O’Reilly’s opener was Manchester City’s 500th Premier League goal at the Etihad Stadium under Pep Guardiola. They have netted 68 more home goals than any other team in the competition since 2016-17, while only Manchester United at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson (910 goals) have scored more goals for one manager at one stadium in Premier League history.
• Lewis Hall’s equaliser (pictured) was Newcastle United’s first Premier League goal at the Etihad Stadium in 2,730 days, since September 2018 (DeAndre Yedlin), having failed to score in any of their six away league games against the Citizens in between. choose
Guardiola praised O’Reilly, who operated in attacking midfield, saying: “He has also played full-back, holding midfielder when Rodri was not there. Now in his position today – what a player, he made an incredible step up.”
Of Erling Haaland, who provided the cross for O’Reilly’s opener, Guardiola said: “Erling was the man of the match for me. Fighting with Dan Burn. Many good things.”
Guardiola joked about how City are at Newcastle in three weeks in the FA Cup fifth round. “What a nightmare,” he said.
Burn had a header disallowed just before half-time, with Rúben Dias’s push putting him into the offside position for which he was penalised. Eddie Howe was asked about this. “I only saw it from the viewpoint I thought he was offside, I didn’t see the push,” said Newcastle’s manager.
While the defeat followed Newcastle also losing here 3-1 in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg this month, Howe said the loss felt different. “The cup game we had more chances but the game was almost dead at 3-0,” he said, referring to the first-leg deficit.
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As the reverse ended Newcastle’s three consecutive wins, Howe is intent momentum is not lost. “The last three games have been a big upturn, in physicality and quality – I think we are heading in the right direction, so hopefully in the long term we are going to be fine,” he said.
Guardiola paid tribute to the former City player James Milner, whose 654th Premier League appearance in Brighton’s win at Brentford broke Gareth Barry’s record in the competition. “James Milner today made an incredible milestone to become the player with the most appearances,” he said.
