Pep Guardiola fends off suggestions that Man City made a ‘statement’ in dominant Brighton win… and insists none of the title rivals are ‘safe’ after Liverpool’s defeat to Everton

Pep Guardiola said only perfection will secure Manchester City another Premier League trophy after this Phil Foden-inspired trouncing of Brighton, with Liverpool‘s loss to Everton having reminded them how costly a single slip-up can be in this frantic title finale.

City saw how their rivals were beaten at Goodison Park on Wednesday with Guardiola explaining after last night’s win at the Amex Stadium that it served as a reality check.

Brighton were supposed to be one of the trickier tests in City’s run-in but they strolled to victory here and within a point of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.

 ‘The statement is three points, this is the only statement,’ he said.

‘There is pressure on us,’ Guardiola said after Foden scored twice with the other goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Julian Alvarez. ‘We know that if we don’t win or we draw, we will not get the chance to fight until the end. Of course the pressure is there. Five games left. On to the next.’

Phil Foden bagged twice as City secured a dominant 4-0 victory at the Amex Stadium

Guardiola said none of the title contenders are ‘safe’ after Liverpool’s defeat to Everton

A trip to Nottingham Forest will follow on Sunday and Guardiola continued: ‘What happened to Liverpool can happen to us and can happen to Arsenal. No one is safe from that.’

‘Everton is playing against the relegation zone, like Nottingham Forest will play for their lives. I know the character from Liverpool. They are going to fight until the end. We have to do it, too.’

On whether City’s run-in experience can help them, Guardiola said: ‘I will have to say yes but I don’t know. What happened in the past does not mean will happen in the future. You have to make it happen.’

Brighton’s fans were angry with the refereeing from Jarred Gillett, who awarded Foden a foul when he seemingly slipped as the England international then scored from that free-kick. They also felt they deserved a penalty when Joao Pedro was tripped by Josko Gvardiol.

Manager Roberto De Zerbi was in no mood to blame Gillett, however, as he said: ‘I have too many problems (to talk about the decisions). We didn’t lose because of the referee’s responsibilities. We have to talk about what we can do to do better, what we can do to recover the injured players. We have to finish in the right way because this season has been very tough.’