A deserved 4-1 win at home to Fulham on Saturday earned City a fifth round tie away to Peterborough, despite the visitors taking an early lead at the Etihad Stadium.
It was a similar story in our recent 1-1 draw with Southampton, where Aymeric Laporte’s second half header saw Guardiola’s men earn a hard-fought point in the Premier League.
And the City boss hopes to see more of that fighting spirit as the business end of the campaign starts to come into view.
“We started really well (against Fulham), had one or two chances and the first chance they got they scored a goal,” he reflected.
“(But) Phil (Foden) immediately got the ball and made a diagonal and we scored a goal. This is what I like, because the toughest moments are coming, and it is how you react.
“How you react in the bad moments, that’s what the big teams do. That is what I want to see in my team.
“For me, what’s more important than winning 5-0 is how we react to the bad moments in 90 minutes.
“We try to play and train at a maximum level at 100%, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. Even if you win a lot of games it doesn’t happen.
“Maybe against adversity you don’t get what you deserve. That’s not a problem and the next game is the same but one day, when you fight against adversity, you will get what you deserve.
“I want to win always, of course, but I want to win when we deserve it. For that, you have to do it better and better and in the bad moments be resilient.
“In the last two games I have no complaints. I am very pleased.”
Guardiola also hailed the importance of the collective following our triumph over Fulham, insisting that each member of the squad has a part to play in the coming months.
In particular, he highlighted the performances of captain Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan, who returned to the team after missing our most recent Premier League tie against Southampton.
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He said: “Fernandinho and (Ilkay) Gundogan did not play the last game and it was so important for them to play 90 minutes because we need everyone.
“Fernandinho, again, played an exceptional game. Gundogan again scored a goal but more than that was his presence in the game.
“I’m very pleased for everyone because they were ready.”
