Pep Guardiola was left delighted after Manchester City’s 2-0 victory at Everton, highlighting that Arsenal and Liverpool didn’t win at Goodison Park this term.
City seemed to be heading for a 0-0 draw before Nico O’Reilly opened the scoring on 84 minutes, with Mateo Kovacic then netting in added time.
Guardiola believes the result’s an enormous boost to his side’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League – although they continue to be behind each Arsenal and Liverpool – who’ve been Premier League title challengers to City in recent seasons.
City narrowly beat Arsenal to the top-flight trophy in 2023 and 2024 with Liverpool the one side to stop Guardiola’s team from winning the last seven Premier League titles in a row, which got here within the 2019-20 campaign.
Speaking after the win over David Moyes’ side, Guardiola referenced Everton’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal earlier this month.
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The City boss also recalled the 2-2 draw between Everton and Liverpool in February, in a game through which the Toffees scored a 98th-minute equaliser.
Quizzed in his post-match press conference how big the win for City was, Guardiola said: ‘I might say big. We wanted to be so smart.
‘Liverpool couldn’t win [here], Arsenal neither. It’s a massively vital [win].’
Everton will leave Goodison Park in the summertime and move into their latest stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
‘It has been truly, truly an honour to return here to Goodison Park for a few years,’ Guardiola added.
‘Today I used to be on the pitch [before the game] watching on the screen, watching all of the goals [at Goodison Park over the years] and I said, ‘Wow! That is English football!’
‘My friend Ronald Koeman destroyed me the primary time I got here here in a 4-0, with [Romelu] Lukaku, I remember perfectly.
‘The start of an incredible adventure that we reside and have lived for nearly a couple of decade.’
Meanwhile, City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live after the win over Everton and said: ‘We needed to work hard.
‘This ground is at all times tough to return and play at with the best way they approach the sport.
‘We needed to be careful, perhaps firstly we didn’t need to risk it an excessive amount of.
‘We got here out within the second half to perform and we now have done that in a superb way. Definitely deserved to get the three points.’
City return to Premier League motion on Tuesday once they host Aston Villa on the Etihad.
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