Manchester City moved to within two points of Arsenal in the Premier League title race with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night
Pep Guardiola made his way around several Crystal Palace players following Manchester City’s victory on Wednesday, with suggestions he was encouraging them to do his side a favour when they face Arsenal. The title challengers secured a comfortable 3-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium with Antoine Semenyo and Omar Marmoush amongst the scorers.
Savinho rounded off the match in the second half as City closed the gap to within two points of league leaders Arsenal with two fixtures remaining.
The Gunners, chasing their first title since 2004, face Palace in the final match of the campaign at Selhurst Park. City will almost certainly need a favour from the Eagles if they are to clinch the title, requiring Arsenal to drop points.
Guardiola was visibly jubilant at full-time as Sky Sports pundits joked that he was circulating amongst the Palace players dispensing advice. The Catalan was spotted in conversation with Jefferson Lerma, Maxence Lacroix and Adam Wharton.
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Speculation has emerged regarding Palace resting key players for their remaining fixtures, despite fielding a strong side for their trip to Manchester.
Oliver Glasner’s men have a Europa Conference League final approaching later in May, and the Austrian has hinted at managing his players’ minutes — though he insists this will not influence the destination of the title.
Glasner recently stated: “To be honest, if somebody criticises me, it would be nonsense. It’s just the last game but there are 37 games played before. That means if another team on matchday 25 rotated against City or Arsenal, they affected the title race as well.”
Guardiola’s squad will now turn their attention to their FA Cup final at the weekend as they face Chelsea at Wembley. Following that, they meet Bournemouth before a final day encounter against Aston Villa.
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Six points will almost certainly be required to claim the title, yet the City manager maintains that applying pressure is all within their control.
“It depends on them [Arsenal]. If they win two games, nothing to do, nothing to talk,” he said. “All we can be is in there just in case. The last two games are tough. And we all we can do now is go to sleep as quickly as possible and prepare for the FA Cup. That is what we have to do.
“But it’s not just FA Cup final, it’s Bournemouth three days after. So travel to London, they [players] will be at home with wife and kids, so fatigue, fatigue.”
Throughout his managerial tenure, Guardiola has never endured consecutive seasons without a league championship.
However, following Liverpool’s title triumph last season, the prospect now looms that the City boss could be denied back-to-back crowns, having previously claimed six titles in seven years.
