Pitch concerns, title race pressure, Bernardo Silva praise: Pep Guardiola reacts to Manchester City win over Nottingham Forest

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has reacted to Sunday’s 0-2 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

The 53-year-olds side continued their latest Premier League title bid on Sunday afternoon, beating relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest 0-2 at the City Ground, courtesy of goals from Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland.

Gvardiol guided Manchester City into the lead with a delightful 31st minute header, before Haaland secured a crucial three points in the 71st, netting with a cushioned effort to score his 32nd goal of the season.

Manchester City were without both Phil Foden and Ruben Dias for the win in the Midlands due to illness, but are now just four wins away from winning a fourth successive Premier League title.

The Sky Blues continued their impressive unbeaten streak with the victory, but a suspected shoulder injury to goalkeeper Ederson may have dampened Guardiola’s post-match spirits, after the Brazilian was forced off at half-time.

The Cityzens are back in action against Wolves next Saturday evening, with the clash being Manchester City’s penultimate home match of the campaign.

Reflecting on Sunday’s win at the City Ground, Guardiola discussed a number of topics post-match; including the pitch, the Premier League title race and Bernardo Silva.

On the 0-2 victory:

“It was more than hard. Such a difficult game but we knew that. The game we played in Brighton feels like a few hours ago so it is always difficult. Coming here Liverpool won in the 99th minute, Arsenal won 2-1, so it is always difficult to come here. A difficult game, we suffered a lot but yeah at the end we take it.”

On the Nottingham Forest pitch:

“We were lucky today the pitch was so dry, because the chances they missed that was the reason why. We were lucky today that the pitch was in these conditions.”

On Ederson’s injury:

“[It] doesn’t look good.”

On the pressure of the Premier League title race:

“The pressure is how you play. If you play good and control the game then people say you don’t feel the pressure, if you play bad people say you feel the pressure. In certain moments we suffered.”

On what changed the game:

“The game changed when Bernardo [Silva] came inside and made a lot of passes. It was difficult because the opponents were so tough, aggressive. These game are so, so tough at this stage in the Premier League.”

On the Manchester City defending:

“We defended the box really good. Especially with with Manu [Akanji], Nathan [Ake] and Josko [Gvardiol]. Then in the last half an hour when Bernardo [Silva] comes inside with Kova [Kovacic] we controlled the game more. We are a team that survives with the ball. It is a lot of games and we knew today would be difficult for many reasons. But we take the win and move forward.”

On Erling Haaland’s return:

“It is important that he is back and doing what he does. Kevin (De Bruyne) found him and it was a really good finish. He was not ready for 90 minutes but it was good for him to be back.”

On Phil Foden and Ruben Dias:

“Ruben (Dias) had a fever and made the effort to go to Brighton but since coming back from there it has gotten worse. And Phil (Foden) said today that he doesn’t feel good so that is why he couldn’t be with us.”