Pep Guardiola hailed the fabulous Manchester City support for their part in lifting his team out of their Real Madrid rut and surging back to the top of the Premier League. And his opposite number Eddie Howe, the Newcastle boss, also conceded that the reaction of the Etihad Stadium crowd had been a factor in deciding the game.
Guardiola has not always been enamoured of the City home fans, but has always been full of praise for the loyal travelling support. But he felt the way they bounced back from the crushing disappointment of having a Champions League final date snatched away, and got right behind the team, was important.
Roared on from the moment they walked onto the pitch, the City players responded with a fine performance and a 5-0 win that not only opened a three-point lead on Liverpool but also overturned their one-goal advantage in goal difference and turned it into a four-goal City superiority.
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And Guardiola said that sometimes at the Etihad, there is a feeling that the team has to lift the fans, rather than the other way round, but this time the crowd had made sure the opposite was true: "In the locker room, most of the time we talk about our away fans being really good. Sometimes I say we have to play good to lift our fans and make opponent feel it’s not a nice place to come. But not today."
Howe agreed - when asked whether his team's hammering was down to them not being very good on the day, or to the fact City are capable of doing that to anyone, he volunteered the fact that the crowd was a factor, saying: "City can do that to anyone, they are that good, and crowd really good for them."
And he said that his players deserve that kind of support after again showing why they have been the best team n the league for the last five years and urged the supporters to keep it going: "These guys – every three days for five years, they have done this many times and they deserve it, they are one of the best groups I’ve ever had. Just three points (lead) but everything can happen. It can happen in a few seconds like in Madrid it can happen in three games.
"I felt our crowd that they were disappointed but not upset about who we are. What we did is what we have done last five years. Three more points."
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