Pep Guardiola’s men were briefly knocked off the summit ahead of our away clash with Leeds United on Saturday after Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Newcastle in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
It meant City had to pick up maximum points at Elland Road against a side unbeaten in their last five matches to regain our slender advantage with four games to play.
But we responded to the challenge, coming away from west Yorkshire with a convincing 4-0 triumph.
And while Laporte insists he and his teammates won’t be distracted by results elsewhere, he was delighted by the manner in which we responded to our brief hiatus at the top of the table.
“It was very important to win (against Leeds) and we did it. We need to continue the same way,” he reflected.
“We knew Liverpool had won earlier and they keep getting good results, so we had to do it as well.
“I think we have been at a great level all season and today we managed to respond to the pressure with another solid performance.
“Of course, we watch Liverpool games and results, but we only focus on ourselves and to make sure we do our job.”
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City are back in Champions League action on Wednesday 4 May, locking horns with Real Madrid in the second leg of our semi-final encounter.
Guardiola’s men currently hold a slender one-goal advantage ahead of our trip to the Santiago Bernabeu, and although Laporte would have preferred having a more convincing lead to defend, he insists the players are ready and raring for the challenge ahead.
He said: “I think we did a very good match in the first leg, we would have liked to finish with a bigger margin.
“We know Real Madrid has a good story in this competition, but we are going to Madrid very confident to play a good match and secure the qualification to the Champions League final.”
