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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Kyle Newbould

Pep Guardiola sends Arsenal message as Erling Haaland reaction to Man City substitution detailed

Here are your Sunday morning Manchester City headlines.

Guardiola's Arsenal message

Pep Guardiola congratulated his Manchester City players on setting up a 'final' against Arsenal.

A 3-1 victory over Leicester moved the Blues to within three points of the Premier League leaders with eight matches to play. While Mikel Arteta's side could be nine points clear by the time they meet City at the end of the month given their extra fixtures, the league title is still in the hands of the defending champions.

Also read: Man City player ratings vs Leicester as Grealish and Stones shine

Guardiola might have been worried by a nervy 20 minutes after making five substitutions against Leicester, and admitted he may have tried to do too much. However, with the job done City can look ahead as they go for glory in three competitions.

"Win, win, win. Arsenal have done an incredible run so far and I don't think they're going to drop many points," he said of the title race. "What you have to do is be there. It's important to us winning today for the final that we have against them in the next Premier League game.

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Haaland substitution reaction

Pep Guardiola pointed out the 'excellent' reaction from Erling Haaland after his early Manchester City substitution.

Haaland scored twice in the opening 25 minutes to equal the Premier League 38-game record - with eight matches still to play - of goals in a single season, moving onto 32. But he was only given until half-time to extend his tally before being taken off for Julian Alvarez as one of two changes, with John Stones also replaced.

Guardiola spoke on Friday about the need to manage Haaland's fitness with 24-hour meticulous care, and with two important knockout games on the horizon next week the forward was brought off early to keep him in top shape. Despite missing out on the opportunity to add more goals, Haaland was complimented for his body language after being substituted.

"It was excellent as always," said Guardiola. "You see his body language during the game, he's like John. They come from injuries and he played after 15 days the first 90 minutes against Bayern Munich, the game was 3-0 and like with John always you have to take care because his injuries are long and after 45 minutes it was good for them to rest."

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