Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has praised his players for their perseverance and determination in the last couple of days after fighting to a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.

Manchester City’s fixture schedule has been tight in the last two weeks, and Guardiola appreciated his players for keeping up the momentum of the title race by winning against the Cherries just days after beating Brentford at Etihad Stadium.

While Erling Haaland’s lone goal did the job last Tuesday, Phil Foden’s strike was enough on Saturday to see City catch up on the Premier League table in the absence of Liverpool from the weekend’s Premier League action due to their Carabao Cup final fixture.

Pep Guardiola compared Manchester City’s calendar to Bournemouth’s and admitted that a lot is demanded of his player.

“I adore my players — they are supermen. They are so good. Where we come from, for many years, playing every three days – they [Bournemouth] had seven days to prepare for the game, and we always have less. We demand too much of our players, but they respond. I know people say ‘they earn a lot of money,’ but it [the schedule] is too much. Honestly, but business must go on and it surprises me every time how we are still there. They have an incredible character and are so competitive – even when they are tired, they give extra.” Guardiola said.

Manchester City are one point ahead of Arsenal in second place on the Premier League table and one point behind Liverpool at the summit.

Manchester City will travel to Luton for the fifth round of the FA Cup on Tuesday before a local derby against Manchester United next weekend. Then they will host the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Copenhagen on 6 March.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu