PEP TALK
‘Kevin is back!’ – Guardiola lauds sensational De Bruyne as boss says Man City should have scored MORE in derby drubbing
PEP GUARDIOLA felt Manchester City should have won by more as they smashed their Etihad derby hoodoo in style.
And he also hailed Kevin de Bruyne following the Belgian’s midfield masterclass.
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The champions had beaten United only once in their last seven home clashes – and had lost the last three.
But De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez grabbed two goals apiece as City ran riot in the second half to move six points clear at the top.
Guardiola felt their second half display was as good as anything they have produced.
He said: "I'm not from Manchester, but I know what it means to our fans to win the derby. We should have scored more goals.
“If the second half is not our best I don’t know what we have to do. United is United – eight games without defeat.
“I am so demanding but I know my limits and my players’ limits and the second half was excellent."
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Regarding De Bruyne's performance, Guardiola beamed: "Kevin is back. After the injuries, he was struggling for rhythm. But now he is scoring goals, playing with power.
“He is one of the top players in the world, but he still runs and works hard, I'm so proud of this guy.”
Guardiola felt his team had a different attitude to some of their recent defeats against the Red Devils.
He said: “I know what the fans feel towards United is different to me - but the last six years, won just one against United here in the Prem.
“But in the last years when we lost against them we were already champions and we knew today we had to win - we have to win almost all the games to be champions.
"Football is emotions. It's tactics, definitely, but it's also emotions. Without the ball, we are a team with desire and passion to regain the ball from the first minute to the 90th.”
Midfielder De Bruyne said: "It's about winning game by game. Liverpool won on Saturday but we responded in the right way.
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“Sometimes we don't get the result but we always play the right way and we will fight until the end of the season."
Mahrez took his tally to the season to 21 by scoring twice late on and said: "We totally controlled the second half; when we are like that, it is difficult to take us.
“We have confidence in our football, but we are taking it game by game.”
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