Pep Guardiola urged Manchester City fans to roar his team to Premier League glory next Sunday after their second half comeback set up a thrilling final day. The Blues need a win, by any margin, when they entertain Aston Villa, presuming that chasing Liverpool do not slip up at Southampton on Tuesday.
But it had looked like the Blues were facing a much harder task as they fell 2-0 behind by half time at West Ham, which would have handed the initiative to Jurgen Klopp’s team and taken the fate of the title out of their own hands for the first time this year.
A Jack Grealish goal and Vladimir Coufal’s own goal dragged City level after Jarrod Bowen struck twice in the first half, and in the end they should have taken all three points, and moved within an ace of the title, as Riyad Mahrez saw his late penalty saved by Lukasz Fabianski. But Guardiola said that the circumstances are now irrelevant and simply asked the support to play their part as Steven Gerrard takes his Villa team to the Etihad, while Liverpool face Wolves at Anfield on the final day.
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"I encourage all the people, all blue people in Manchester that day, go to the streets, go to the stadium, because we are going to give everything to win the Premier League, I am pretty sure about that."
Guardiola was happy with his team’s performance at the London Stadium, as they fought back to claim a point for only the second time in their Premier League history, and went within an ace of winning it.
“It normally happens!” he said “It was a really good game. We played more than decent first half but it is so difficult to attack them. I'm very pleased for the fact we came back against this West Ham in this stadium with the transitions with (Michail) Antonio so difficult to control.
“They put movements in behind, (Jarrod) Bowen finished really well but we scored a goal in the second half and made a really good second half.”
The manager added that he had warned his players that the two away games this week would be extremely tough: “We knew it before we arrived here, and before Wolves, that we had incredibly tough games away.
“After our exceptional performance at Wolves, we knew four points. Now there are no debates about goal difference or anything. We need to win our game to be champion.
“If we don't win, Liverpool will be champions. I can assure you something. In one week our stadium will be sold out and we will give them all of our lives over 95 minutes and they will give us their lives.
“It is an incredible privilege to have the chance with our people at home to win one game to be champion. I'm looking forward to it.
“We are going to rest for one or two days, mentally disconnect, and then train three or four days to prepare the game against Aston Villa.”
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