Gundogan pleased after 'brilliant' victory over Everton | OneFootball

Ilkay Gundogan believes City are 'playing on a different level' now following Saturday's impressive 2-0 Premier League win over Everton.

City's final trip to Goodison Park seemed destined to end goalless after a tight and tense 80 minutes, with James Tarkoswki hitting the post for the hosts in the first half, whilst Omar Marmoush and Savinho were denied smartly by Jordan Pickford in the second period.

But the crucial breakthrough finally arrived after 84 minutes, with Academy graduate Nico O'Reilly racing into the box to find the target, before Mateo Kovacic slotted in our second in stoppage time, both players netting in successive matches.

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The victory moved City up to fourth place in the table and Gundogan, who set up Kovacic's goal, believes Pep Guardiola's men thoroughly deserved the three points and have kicked on since the March international break.

"Yes, we had to work really hard. But it was also no surprise for us in the end," the German said.

"We knew this ground is always tough to come to and tough to play at with the way they approach the game, playing quite a lot of long balls from the back and with their physical conditions.

APPLAUD: Gundogan and co applaud the brilliant away fans after the game.

"We had to be careful, maybe at the beginning we didn't want to risk it too much. Maybe you could feel it a bit in the way we played especially in the first half. We came out in the second half to perform and we have done that in a brilliant way. We definitely deserved to get the three points.

"It might feel like that [a transition season] right now without forgetting that we are still playing for something obviously. We have done, unfortunately, too many mistakes for a long part of the season, probably between October and February. We dropped a lot of points and made a lot of individual mistakes.

"There are various reasons for that and I’m sure the Club knows and management knows. It’s about analysing that maybe, to definitely avoid something like that next season.

"I feel like already now, especially since we came back after the March international break, we’re playing on a different level and different standards. You can feel it as a player on the pitch and in the training sessions, I think the manager feels it and the supporters feel it.

"When you are on top of that game, and you have certain qualities that our squad brings on the pitch, you can’t avoid winning Premier League games."

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The German also reserved special praise for Jeremy Doku, after the winger was introduced from the bench with 12 minutes left to play, and showed plenty of energy and endeavour on the flank.

"It is crucial, especially in a high competitive league like the Premier League is right now, having players coming from the bench that can leave an impact is crucial. Savinho has done really well in the second half as well, and then having a replacement like Jeremy for him, I don’t think it can really get much better in terms of making the right impact at the right time. He has done that.

"He’s really strong in keeping the ball in one on ones offensively, and gives us a breather. He can go into the box and attract two or three opponents, which makes more space for other players, like he did with the second goal, he gave me the ball and I was able to set it for Kova. This is the quality that we need at the end of the day.

"Everyone has been doing really well since the international break in March. We need to stay on top of our game for the rest of the season because we definitely need to qualify for the Champions League."