AFTER BEATING ARSENAL, GUARDIOLA ASSERTS THAT THERE IS STILL A LONG WAY TO GO IN THE TITLE BATTLE.

Following his team’s 3-1 victory at the league’s defending champions Arsenal on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola downplayed the significance of Manchester City taking the league lead.

At The Emirates, City put up an impressive second-half performance to defeat the Gunners for the 11th straight league game and overtake them on goal differential.

Both teams have 51 points, but Arsenal has a game in hand as it seeks its first championship since 2004.

The victory makes City the odds-on favorite to win a sixth championship in as many seasons under Guardiola, but the Spaniard said there was still a long way to go.

Guardiola told reporters, “They have played one less game so I consider them to be top of the league.” “There are still a lot of games left to play, and the Champions League and Europa League are approaching. There are many, many challenges for everyone.

But the fact that we could have been here a few weeks ago with a deficit of perhaps eight or nine points is crucial. It would have been practically over if we had lost here.

“But now that they’ve lost points, we came here for the chance to be near, we won the game, and we’re there,” the player said.

At the end of April, when City still has to host Arsenal, Guardiola predicts that the race will heat up.

“The final eight to ten games will determine who wins this league. 15 more are left. The participants are exhausted by the numerous games.

Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, was left to lament the small mistakes that led to a potentially expensive loss.

Takehiro Tomiyasu’s weak back pass allowed Kevin de Bruyne to give City the lead, and Gabriel’s slip-up allowed City to take the lead again through Jack Grealish. Erling Haaland’s 26th league goal of the season then clinched the victory.

When we had them, we gave them the goals in a fantastic struggle between two teams. However, despite having three excellent chances, we failed to convert, according to Arteta, a former assistant to Guardiola.

“With the effort and intensity the team put in against City, I have more faith than I did before the game. With the crowd we have, we can accommodate their request to play a different game from the one we did, he continued.

“I think that they still believe they can win the crown. They believe they can succeed.