Late goals from Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan helped City overcome the challenge of a dogged and determined Villa and secure a vital triumph at a rain lashed Etihad Stadium.
It was our sixth straight Premier League victory – and lifted us to the top of the table for the first time this season before Manchester United later regained top spot with victory at Fulham.
And reflecting on the win, Guardiola said the most encouraging thing from his point of way was the way City have been playing since Christmas.
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“The most important thing to me, rather than the six victories in a row, is we are back since the Newcastle game playing the way we need to play to be champions,” declared the City boss.
“Everyone wants to be champion, but you have to show you deserve it. We controlled many aspects. We had the right tempo, conceded few. We have to be more clinical in the final third, but we will improve.
“(The performance was) really good against an incredible top side. The same level, quite similar to the last games since Newcastle when we have started to play much better.
“I was really impressed with our performance. We played really well.
“We still have one game left to finish the first round (of games). Now it is the FA Cup and West Brom. In the end we lost just two games this season.”
City have put together a stunning run of form since the November loss at Spurs which left us in 12th place and Guardiola was also asked whether he felt the side would have made a stronger start to the season had we enjoyed a proper pre-season.
However, the boss instead pointed to City’s improved constancy of late.
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“When we drop points, you don’t know if my decisions weren’t good enough,” Guardiola added.
“You need time sometimes. We were disappointed last season against Lyon in UCL and we had 15 games until we started again.
“We played against Wolves without a friendly game. We were not consistent enough, maybe because of my decisions.
“We are playing much much better.”
