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For Pep Guardiola , Manchester City ’s
1 - 0 victory at Premier League
champions Chelsea was a sign that his
team can now impose their style upon
any of their title rivals.
Accustomed to seeing his Barcelona and
Bayern Munich sides laud it over all and
sundry , Guardiola had a reality check in
his first season at City, who were well
beaten by teams such as Leicester City
and Everton .
But the dominant nature of Saturday ’s
win at Stamford Bridge, secured by
Chelsea old boy Kevin De Bruyne’s 67 th-
minute strike , convinced him City can
stamp their authority on any contest .
“ We try with Manchester City to
convince the club that we are able to go
wherever and do our game and not wait
(to see ) what happened ,” Guardiola
said .
“ Of course you have to adapt to the
opponents because the opponents have
the same quality like yours .
“ But to show in the first minute to the
people in Stamford Bridge that these
guys came here to try to win the game ,
that is what I want to give to the club
and the team.
“ I’ m so satisfied because we won in a
way that we tried from the beginning .”
Though the margin of victory was
slimmer than in recent outings, City’s
control of the match was total , their
defenders pushing high up the pitch and
pinning Chelsea inside their own half .
Victory took City back above Manchester
United on goal difference at the top of
the table , five points ahead of
Tottenham Hotspur and six clear of
Chelsea . But Guardiola knows the
finishing line is a long way away .
De Bruyne ‘complete ’
“ Chelsea won 15 (actually 13 ) games in
a row last season. They were unbeatable
and won the league well in advance, ” he
told his post - match press conference.
“ Of course this season they have a little
more problems because they play every
three days . It’ s always more complicated
for all the teams.
“ We saw again the Harry Kane team
(Tottenham), scoring two or three goals
every day.
“ Jose with United always will be tough ,
because now you see United is a Jose
Mourinho team : so aggressive, win
duels, so quick in the counter- attack .
“ It will be so tough , but it’ s important in
the process to show we can do that. We
go to Old Trafford or White Hart Lane
or Emirates Stadium , we are going to
try. The opponents are good too , but we
are going to try.”
De Bruyne’s strike, a 20 - yard effort with
his left foot past Belgium team- mate
Thibaut Courtois , came after his
sparkling goal in City’ s 2 - 0 win over
Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions
League on Tuesday .
De Bruyne left Chelsea for Wolfsburg in
January 2014 and although the Blues ’
current manager Antonio Conte said he
did not know about the circumstances of
the 26 - year - old ’ s departure , he paid
him a glowing tribute.
“ I don ’t know what happened in the
past ,” said the Italian , who guided
Chelsea to the title in his maiden
campaign.
“ But we are talking about a really good
player, a top player , because he is a
good technical (player ), fast, good
personality, runs a lot. I think he ’s a
complete player .”
Conte could not fault his own players’
efforts and suggested they had paid for
the quick turnaround that followed their
stirring 2 - 1 win away to Atletico Madrid
in the Champions League on
Wednesday .
“ We could take this as an excuse, but for
sure when you have to play another
massive game only two days later, you
must consider the fatigue in the legs of
your players, ” he said .
“ For example, It ’s impossible to go to
press box- to - box because after 30
minutes you have not the energy to
continue to play this game .”
Spanish striker Alvaro Morata will
undergo tests on Sunday, having been
substituted in the first half as a
precaution after feeling a twinge in his
left hamstring, but Conte expressed
hope it was not serious.
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