Gundogan scored two goals in the space of eight first half minutes to put the Blues in command against Sam Allardyce’s side.
The German star missed a late penalty and the chance of his first hat-trick for the Club, but Guardiola says Gundogan doesn’t have to score goals to impress him.
“It’s not necessary that he scored two incredible goals,” said Pep.
“Reading the space, he has everything. How intelligent and how good he is.
“He doesn’t need to score two goals to know how much I like this player.”
The City boss also believes that the late penalty the Blues were awarded would have been better being taken by regular spot-kick takers Erling Haaland or Riyad Mahrez.
The Catalan felt that, at 2-0, the game was still alive.
“Everyone was incredibly focused knowing what we are playing for,” he said.
“But at 2-0, you have to close it and not give them anything.
“If you have control, you have control. Saying that it doesn’t matter. Gundo could have scored, and the other ones could have missed.
“It’s not about that. I admire a lot that Gundo wants to take responsibility to score a goal, that is the best value of a player that I have.
“(But) normally the taker is the taker and Erling has to take it because he’s a specialist.”
And on Nathan Ake’s second-half departure with what looked like an injury, the boss added: “I didn’t speak with the doctor. We will see in the next few days.”
Watch part one of Pep Guardiola‘s press conference by playing the video above...
