Guardiola refuses to get carried away with title race talks as Man City thrash Sunderland 3-0 to close the gap on Arsenal | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has refused to get carried away by talks of the title race despite leading his side to a 3-0 win against Sunderland at Etihad Stadium.

The Spanish tactician described the game as “one of the best performances of the season”, but has called on his side to be more consistent if they want to go all the way.

After shipping in six goals in their last two Premier League games, a Rodri-less City welcomed the Black Cats to Manchester, knowing they’ll need a more solid performance to come away with a win.

They got the job done in spectacular fashion to reduce the gap on Arsenal to two points.

Ruben Dias opened the scoring on the half-hour mark with a ferocious long-range effort into the top corner.

Josko Gvardiol doubled City’s advantage with a bullet header from a Phil Foden corner just four minutes later.

Foden turned goalscorer in the second half, netting City’s third in the 65th minute to wrap up the three points for the Cityzens.

Sunderland have been the surprise package of the season and came into this contest having already beaten Chelsea and taken a point off league leaders Arsenal.

However, City put in a vintage performance to stifle Sunderland’s attacking threat and offered a glimpse of the champion’s mentality that seemed to be lost earlier in the season.

Guardiola understands the importance of the result, especially on home turf, but he’s not getting ahead of himself just yet, with plenty of football still to play.

“Many things are going to happen,” Guardiola said (via BBC). “It’s down to the way we play, not how many points behind we are. It’s the way you perform, the players are not stupid.

“Consistency doesn’t come from one result – it’s to be strong in many departments. In the last 9-10 games, we have been good.

“We have suffered a lot, but we have to learn for it not to happen again. Score five goals against Fulham, you are doing good things.”

City now have to turn their attention to Champions League duties as they prepare to take on familiar foes Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu.