We’ve just got that horrible feeling in our stomachs
Manchester City came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 yesterday and it was, in the end, an afternoon that City boss Pep Guardiola was pleased with.
“It’s good news,” he said. “Away, except at White Hart Lane, we have won. They were all quite similar, complicated and difficult. You want to control that and it’s almost impossible.
“It’s also difficult to defend against long balls. Burnley are taller than us and second balls are good. They are so dangerous. All Premier League teams do well in this area and we have to improve a little bit the way we deal with those kind of actions. In Spain and Germany, it doesn’t happen.
“You cannot press because there are long balls and they are taller than us. They put the ball in the channels, looking for corners and free kicks. I have to learn what we have to do. Some faults are our own fault. I also need time to understand the referees.
“We are so satisfied for the points and the performance, especially three days after the Champions League. All of the players showed huge character and a lot of personality, and after going 1-0 down at a stadium where only Chelsea are better at home. We are so happy. We have a long week to rest a little and prepare for Chelsea.”
Of the goals that turned it round for his team, and their scrappy nature, he joked: “They were beautiful goals,” but added of goalscorer Sergio Aguero: “He is talented. He played very well and moved well.
“From the beginning, he was ready. His body language was really good. Of course, he has the quality to score amazing goals but we need him in the box. He played a really good game.
“It has been a huge week for us. We qualified in the Champions League, and we won at Crystal Palace and Burnley, so that’s why we’re happy. I am still learning but I am in the process.”
Sean Dyche needed a reaction after the West Brom game and, despite the result, said: “I was really pleased with the performance, other than the result, and that was a great marker today after what happened last Monday.
“We know we have to take that on the road, but today I was delighted and equally so with the crowd’s reaction. They know it’s not easy playing this type of club, but they stuck with the lads throughout with no disappointments. They were right behind us and that’s an important factor going forwards.”
Dyche added: “I thought we were a real threat at set pieces all day. We deliberately set out to make it uncomfortable for them and put them under pressure, and pressed them and they didn’t find too many glossy passages of play.
“We’ve just got that horrible feeling in our stomachs because we’ve got nothing from it. Sometimes the game doesn’t reward you, because I thought we were good value for a point today. The head scratcher is two soft goals, but for the second one we are putting bodies on the line and getting blocks in. Two lads get in the way of each other, which can happen, but even then it goes in off his knee. Unfortunately, that happens.”
The Clarets’ boss, like most, was convinced we should have had a penalty for a push on Jeff Hendrick. “I’m amazed at that one off decision,” he said. “Andre is a good referee but he has got that one wrong. We don’t seem to get many key decisions in the box, but it’s a definite foul on Jeff.
I’ve seen it back and that’s a real frustration because we don’t get those decisions. I ask my lads to be honest and I don’t know what we have to do to get a penalty if that’s not one. I find it hard to fathom my way through the Premier League often with decisions. I see some people dropping to the floor constantly and getting fouls. If we do it, and it’s a legitimate foul, we don’t seem to get them. I don’t know where he lives.”
Burnley were without Tom Heaton for the first time in a league game, and we also saw both Dean Marney and Johann Berg Gudmundsson withdrawn before half time. Dyche confirmed that the two withdrawals were due to hamstring injuries.
Regarding Heaton, he explained: “Tom got a calf injury and couldn’t make it today, but Robbo, as I expected, was excellent. He’s been fantastic in training and he’s as lean and fit as he’s probably ever been and I think goalkeepers mature later in their careers.
“He’s been fantastic in the group, ably assisted by Nick Pope, who is a fine keeper in his own right. I do really like our clutch of keepers and there’s great respect among them all. Nick is getting used to what we are doing and we’re pleased with him as well, but Robbo was first class today and the save in the first half from Aguero is a top, top save.”
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