Man City Close In On Arsenal As Guardiola Focuses On Current Form

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Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City’s recent Premier League form counts for nothing, despite a narrow 1-0 win over Leeds United at Elland Road. Antoine Semenyo’s decisive strike moved City back to within two points of leaders Arsenal, keeping the Premier League title race finely balanced.

City’s run of 11 wins from their last 16 league matches, with four draws and one defeat, has produced 37 points. Since matchday 13 no other Premier League side has matched that total, with Arsenal next on 32 points, yet Guardiola refuses to lean on past surges.

Guardiola told Sky Sports: "I couldn't care less. What happened in the past, happened in the past. When we won 13 or 14 games in a row in the past to win the league ahead of Liverpool, I never knew we were going to win all those games in a row. It was game by game."

Arsenal now face Chelsea in a demanding fixture, while City again prepare for a tense Premier League title race run-in. Guardiola stressed the difficulty of the schedule, highlighting how teams near the bottom and those chasing Europe raise intensity during this stage of the season.

City travelled to Leeds without leading scorer Erling Haaland, who picked up a minor training injury. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, City have played 18 league matches without Haaland, winning 14, drawing two and losing two, a 78% win rate that underlines their depth.

Asked whether that record pleased Guardiola, the response was sharp. "Yeah, but I'd wish he'd come back!" When pressed about Haaland’s chances of facing Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, Guardiola simply replied: "I don't know." City still relied on patience and control to manage another demanding away assignment.

Semenyo’s winner, created by neat work from Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri, gave Semenyo five Premier League goal contributions since joining City, with four goals and one assist. Only Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, with six each, have been involved in more goals over that period for new arrivals.

Guardiola described the contest as physically demanding from the start. "It was a tough 10 or 15 minutes, like every game here. They are so aggressive in the duels. We made a thousand million passes, which works a lot in football," said the Spaniard, reflecting on City’s territorial control.

Guardiola added: "At first it was just passes without the sense to attack, as we know how tough they are. But in the end, it was a huge, huge win. We couldn't find the spaces in behind, we had to look a little bit more, and once again the guys made an extraordinary effort."

Earlier, Guardiola also underlined the challenge ahead. "We recover now, and the real season starts here, with many tough games. You play teams who are fighting not to go down or fighting for Europe. Every game is really, really toughyou saw it yesterday with Wolves winning [against Aston Villa]. It's tough." For City, the focus remains on each match as the Premier League title race intensifies.