Pep Guardiola says “nothing changes” in the Premier League title race with Liverpool after Manchester City moved four points clear and praised four-goal hero Gabriel Jesus.
City dismantled a relegation-threatened Watford 5-1 on Saturday, seeing them extend their gap over second-place Liverpool to four points.
It could all be temporary however, with Jurgen Klopp’s Reds taking on Everton in the Merseyside derby on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports from 4pm.
Guardiola understandably played down the four-point gap, calling all the Premier League games played at the moment a “final”.
He told Sky Sports: “Nothing changes. When we won against Brighton we were two points behind [before the game], now we’re four in front. Brighton was a ‘final’. We had another ‘final’ today and we won it. Now we have an opportunity to play a ‘final’ against Leeds.
“Nothing changes. We have to win all five games to be champions.
“We started with having a goal in the first minutes of the first half and second half, that was good. We didn’t defend well in the back, we were not aggressive enough. Defending is a question of attitude, it’s not a question of skills or abilities, and we were not good.
“But the players at the front, not only Gabriel Jesus for his incredible four goals, but Raheem, Jack, Kevin, all of them, they were brilliant.”
Not only did Jesus rack up an impressive goal haul – scoring twice in each half – he also assisted a rocket from Rodri for City’s third.
“If there was one person who deserves the best of his life for him and his family and friends, it’s Gabriel,” Guardiola said of his striker.
“All of us at the club and locker room, when he has one of these situations we are happy for him because he is so generous and it doesn’t matter what position he is going to play, he always fights, he always helps for his mates. It was fantastic.”
Jesus: It was my day
Jesus scored his fourth career hat-trick and his first since netting three times against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League in November 2019.
He is the fifth Brazilian hat-trick scorer in the Premier League, after Afonso Alves, Robinho, Roberto Firmino and Lucas Moura, but the first of those to score four in a single match.
Jesus also became only the second City player to be directly involved in five goals in a single Premier League game [four goals, one assist], after Sergio Aguero scored five against Newcastle in October 2015.
“It was my day,” Gabriel Jesus told Sky Sports.
“This was my first hat-trick in the Premier League. I try it, sometimes I score two and hit the post, the defender blocks, the keeper saves. Today was my day. I am very happy with the three points, the team played so good this afternoon. We deserved it.”
The service to Jesus was first-class too, with Kevin De Bruyne producing a fine assist for the second of his four goals.
“He is an amazing player, he always tries to put the ball in the box,” Jesus said of his team-mate. “When I play on the right side, I try to do the same but he is better than me, obviously! Always when he has the ball, I try to go in the area to finish and today I was happy that he gave a very good cross and I could head it in.”
Jesus is also focused on City’s task in hand, rather than concerning himself with Liverpool, but admitted that closing the gap in terms of goal difference has been on their minds.
He added: “We have to do our job and don’t look to them [Liverpool]. We know they have a lot of amazing players who can win all the games. We are in front, it’s not easy, but we have to do our job.
“It [goal difference] helps so much. Sometimes we create a lot of chances and don’t score. This afternoon, we scored, we won the game most importantly, but we think about the goals as well.”
Hodgson: City provoked mistakes and capitalised
For Watford, it was another difficult afternoon against City. Although Hassane Kamara offered a glimmer of hope when he made it 2-1 in the 28th minute, the Hornets were simply outclassed by a superior side.
“It was always going to be a tough afternoon because we’re playing the champions and a team that’s fighting to be champions for a second year in a row,” Watford manager Roy Hodgson told Sky Sports.
“If you then concede goals in the very first minutes, you have made life far too difficult for yourself against a team of Man City’s quality. In the end, when these things happen, you can so easily find yourself on the end of a heavy defeat.
“There’s always a glimpse of hope if you defend properly and make certain that they don’t score their goals too easily. There’s always opportunists and hope on the counter-attack that you can do something.
“That was the case today, but the pressure is always on the defence and that does provoke mistakes unfortunately and they were able to capitalise on them.”
With five games to play – including vital fixtures against Burnley and Everton – Watford remain seven points adrift of safety, but Hodgson remains optimistic that they can beat the drop.
He added: “There’s five games left to play so that also gives us lots of hope, but we have to make certain we cut out some of the mistakes that we were forced into giving today and conceding goals in that way.
“But I think there’s every chance that against teams around us now, we can certainly play better. Individuals can give better performances than they have done today.
“But to be honest to everybody, they provoke those mistakes and make life difficult for you and that’s why they’re top of the league and we’re near the bottom.”
Manchester City’s fixture schedule:
To be rearranged: Wolves (a) Premier League
Tuesday – Real Madrid (h) Champions League SF first leg
April 30 – Leeds (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
May 4 – Real Madrid (a) Champions League SF second leg
May 8 – Newcastle (h) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
May 15 – West Ham (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
May 22 – Aston Villa (h) Premier League
May 28 – Champions League final *
Watford’s remaining fixtures
April 30 – Burnley (h)
May 7 – Crystal Palace (a)
May 10 – Everton (h)
May 15 – Leicester (h)
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