Pep Guardiola saluted the endeavour of his Manchester City players in Wednesday night’s thrilling 1-1 draw at Brighton after they had “drunk all the alcohol in Manchester” on Sunday night during their Premier League title celebrations.
City were presented with the trophy after their 1-0 home win against Chelsea, although their triumph had been sealed on Saturday when their nearest challengers, Arsenal, lost at Nottingham Forest. It was the prompt for a deserved party, even if Guardiola himself took it easy.
“At 10.30pm, I was in bed with my wife,” he said. “I was exhausted. I watched Match of the Day and then I slept like a baby. But I know the players did what they have to do. When you win the Premier League you have to celebrate. They did it with the families, they enjoy a lot.
“The next morning, it was just sauna time. And the day after – yesterday – we talked a little bit in the afternoon: ‘Guys you have to be ready, energy, for Brighton.’ And they did it.
“I was a little bit worried about how much we drop [from] what we had done over the last four, five, six months … 40 hours ago we drank all the alcohol in Manchester. But the team was there and that’s why I am very pleased. Because I don’t want the team to drop before the FA Cup and Champions League finals. We showed why we are the best team in England. I’m very pleased with the way we still are as a team after being champion.”
Guardiola was furious that Erling Haaland had a 79th-minute header ruled out on the advice of the VAR for a shirt pull on Levi Colwill.
“If it’s disallowed, every action to Erling Haaland, [by] all central defenders, is a fault,” Guardiola said. “Every action. It’s a goal because he’s bigger, he’s stronger, he won the position and it was an incredible action from Cole Palmer [on the cross]. The goal should be given. But that proves [what] we want … what we won on the pitch belongs to us – not anyone gives us anything.”
