Pep admits loss to Everton would have been devastating

Cape Town - Pep Guardiola claimed his Manchester City side could not have afforded a slip up after grinding out a hard-fought win at Everton.

The Premier League champions needed goals in the final 19 minutes from Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling to triumph 3-1 at Goodison Park.

Leaders Liverpool beat Sheffield United earlier in the day, but City’s performance ensured the Reds would end the weekend as they started it, five points ahead.

The bid to win the title is again a two-horse race and Guardiola admits anything other than a win at Goodison, would have been a big setback.

"We knew Liverpool won again and the gap was eight points – so big – so we won three points and it’s (a lead of) five in September, with a lot of points to play for," he said.

"We know which team we're playing (in the title race) right now, they are seven victories in a row, champions of Europe and playing good football. This is our rival and we know we can’t drop too many points because last season they lost just one game.

"The season is long, we have to keep going and be there, maybe we can push them a little bit more and try to make the third Premier League in a row."

City took a first-half lead through Gabriel Jesus, but Everton levelled through Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who got the final touch to a goal-bound Seamus Coleman strike.

Both sides then had chances but ultimately it was City who prevailed as the outstanding Mahrez beat Jordan Pickford with a low free-kick and Sterling smashed in a shot off the bar.

Guardiola said: "At Goodison Park, it's always difficult. We started incredibly well, as usual, we created chances and scored but after that, we had a lot of problems.

"In the second half, except set-pieces and conceding free-kicks and long balls, we played good again. I had the feeling we had clear chances but Ederson made two incredible saves at 2-1. It was a good game of football."

- TeamTalk