Pep Guardiola‘s side came into the league encounter with the Magpies after a heartbreaking Champions League exit on Wednesday against Real Madrid.
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However, goals from Raheem Sterling (2), Aymeric Laporte, Rodrigo and Phil Foden saw the team get back to winning ways and move three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Spaniard reserved special praise for the mentality and personality of the City squad after the win.
“We showed the personality we have after the defeat we had,” he said. “It was incredible for us. Football is like this. You have to wake up. You have to stay focused on the Premier League.
“Now we are three points clear, but we’re still in the fight. The personality we showed today is unbelievable. After what happened it was incredible.
“For us, the mood wasn’t very high as you could see but now we switched on, from Friday, we woke up and I think we did unbelievable work here [in the head].”
The 25-year-old got his name on the scoresheet for the third successive league game, powering in a header from Kevin De Bruyne‘s corner just after the hour mark to make it 3-0.
The midfielder stressed the importance of being able to score from set-pieces and believes it is a key part of winning games.
“It’s so important [set pieces],” he said, “Depending on the team, most play very compact here, we have to be effective in other ways.
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“They give us an advantage in the game, to be champions you have to be the best in all parts of the game. We’re the top team in set pieces.
“The score is not the important thing, the win is. Of course the goal difference is going to be important.”
