Pep Guardiola locked his Manchester City players in the dressing room for over 40 minutes after their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur put Liverpool to within six wins of their first League Championship in 30 years.
City have accumulated the two highest points totals (100 and 98) in English top flight history over the previous two seasons, but their sixth Premier League defeat of the current campaign leaves them languishing 22 points in Jurgen Klopp's side wake with the Reds enjoying the biggest lead at the summit of all-time.
With the top two both having 13 remaining fixtures, Liverpool need just 18 more points to secure what will be their first Premier League title.
City – who had Oleksandr Zinchenko sent off in a bad-tempered match – were guilty of squandering a number of good chances in their defeat and Ilkay Gundogan had a penalty saved by Hugo Lloris when the score was still goalless.
Despite the visitors having 18 shots to Jose Mourinho's side's three and enjoying 67% of possession, they were beaten by goals from Spurs debutant Steven Bergwijn (63) and Son Heung-min (71).
Finally emerging from the dressing room some 45 minutes after the game finished, it has been reported that Guardiola could now face a fine from the Premier League.
When asked what he told his players, he said: “How proud I am of them, but it’s not enough. I like to see my players playing that way.”
