His side have lost just once in their last eight games in all competitions and their latest victory at Bournemouth has seen them rise to second in the table, reducing Chelsea’s lead at the top to eight points.
Their form has seen some suggest they could be set to close in on Antonio Conte’s side and challenge for the title – but Guardiola isn’t getting carried away.
“The important thing is to focus, for the last month and a half we talked about that,” he said. “Just focus on our game, game by game and improve our performance.
“The gap is still so big but it’s so, so difficult to win all the games.
“The gap is too big. They [Chelsea] didn’t win but they played so solid, it’s so difficult to create chances.
“The gap is still so massive. We just have to focus on the next game in the cup and we are going to see what will happen in the future.”
City’s performances have improved significantly since the turn of the year, with defeat to Everton the only blot on their copybook in 2017.
They are playing with fluidity and attacking freedom, and sides are struggling to contain them.
Guardiola recognises the improvement and is full of praise for his players.
“My feeling is in the last games, our performance was much, much better,” he said.
“My only regret against Bournemouth is we created so many chances and didn’t score enough goals - but in general I am so, so happy with the performance.
“It’s so important to score goals. We are in deficit but it’s okay.
“The important thing is the performance and always the result is the consequence of the performance.”
