Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has set his players the target of another 10 wins to guarantee a Premier League title triumph.
The leaders responded to their 4-3 loss to Liverpool last week, their first in domestic competition this season, with a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United on Saturday.
That restored their 12-point lead at the top of the table after Manchester United had briefly reduced it to nine with a 1-0 win away to Burnley.
Guardiola now wants 30 more points from City’s final 14 matches to make sure of a first league title since he came to England in 2016.
Always after the defeat against Liverpool, you have a little bit of doubt how you would react – what would happen if you went two games in a row not winning, he told a news conference. That s why it was so important.
We need mathematically 10 victories to be champions. We are going to try to win game by game.
3 Sergio Aguero has scored the first perfect Premier League hat-trick since the Argentine himself scored one against Newcastle in October 2015. Deja-vu.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Sergio Aguero scored all three goals in the win at the Etihad Stadium to take his tally for the season to 16 in just 19 league appearances.
It was a ruthless performance from the Argentina striker, whose future at the club had come under scrutiny this term amid rumours of a falling-out with Guardiola and City s pursuit of Alexis Sanchez.
With the Arsenal forward on the verge of joining Manchester United, Guardiola is more than happy to put his faith in Aguero – and Gabriel Jesus, who will be back from a knee injury next month – for the remainder of the campaign.
We are not going to buy another striker, he said. We have him [Aguero] and, in two or three weeks, Gabriel is back.
We are so happy for him. Before his first goal, he didn t touch the ball. It is his gift. No words to describe him. I am so happy for him.
I think how Sergio played his career here. His reaction doesn t depend on the fact that one player comes or doesn t come. In the last games, apart from Anfield, he scores goals.
This chapter is over, finished, so we are going to think of the future.
