Pep Guardiola claims Manchester City are in the position he "dreamed" of at the beginning of the season as he urged Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish to keep them top of the Premier League.
It remains a nip-and-tuck title race, but Guardiola is more than happy with City's standing within that battle for silverware after they nudged into top spot with victory at Arsenal.
He insists Arsenal remain firmly in the hunt but would have settled for this situation, being confident his City team can apply a kick finish and leave their rivals scrapping over second place.
Manchester United could yet have a big say in the destiny of the title, being just five points adrift, but City and Arsenal are the frontrunners for now, locked on 51 points.
"Arsenal still have one game in hand, so nothing has changed much," Guardiola said initially at Friday's press conference ahead of the weekend trip to Nottingham Forest.
He later pointed to City's mindset in Premier League campaigns and their view that nothing is won early in the season.
The gap to Arsenal reached eight points at one stage, but it has been clawed back, with the Gunners suffering a dip in form.
City have the scent of a third successive Premier League title and a fifth in six seasons.
"We were aware we had to put the shoes on again and try to be close to the top of the league, and now we are there, we are close," Guardiola said.
"There are still 15 games left, a lot of games, but we want to arrive at the last eight, 10 games, being there, close, top or close to the top of the league."
Guardiola added: "We have to make the last rush, the last effort. The last weeks have helped us, for the results of Arsenal but especially for the victories we have done.
"We are in the position I would have dreamed at the beginning of the season.
"I could not expect to be a lot of points in front; after winning back to back, it's almost impossible."
All the same, Guardiola is not buying into talk of City momentum.
"Momentum is where you win 10 games in a row, and that didn't happen this season. We lost three games ago in London against Tottenham, so momentum is tomorrow at 3pm be ready mentally against a team who have lost one game in their last six," he said.
De Bruyne and Grealish, City's midfield pearls, both scored in the 3-1 win at Arsenal on Wednesday.
Neither man has been guaranteed a start, with De Bruyne notably benched for the Tottenham game.
But Guardiola spoke of the influence both can now have, hailing Grealish's "ambition and his aggressivity" to attack defences.
"The quality was always there but his commitment to take a risk in important decisions is making the difference. But he has to continue," Guardiola said.
It was a similar message for De Bruyne, whose form Guardiola described as "really good".
"It's like Jack and like everyone, I'm so pleased for everyone, but I want more," Guardiola said. "So I still have the feeling Kevin can do more, Jack can do more and can do better.
"They can do it. Of course, he made a fantastic goal, but I know the demands we have here until the end of the season and a tough and aggressive opponent, and we need the players to have the feeling we can do better."
The manager also said it was healthy for City's players sometimes to have discussions without him present.
"It's good," Guardiola said, "because at the end they play, and they are the artists, and they have to take the solutions and decisions and everything that is going on on the pitch, and I cannot be involved in that."
Nottingham Forest unsuccessful in appeal against Premier League points deduction
Nottingham Forest have been unsuccessful in their appeal against a four-point deduction for breaching the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules.
In March, Forest were deducted four points after admitting to breaching the league's financial rules by overspending by £34.5million over a three-year assessment period ending last season.
Everton have also lost eight points to two separate deductions, having been found to have breached the rules in the period culminating in 2022-23 and the period ending last campaign.
Forest's penalty dropped them into the thick of the relegation battle, with the club saying they were "extremely dismayed by the tone and content" of the Premier League's submissions to an independent commission and pledging to appeal.
Forest argued their lack of recent Premier League history placed them at a disadvantage to other clubs and said the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham, which went through last September after the end of the assessment period, was within the "spirit" of sustainability.
The club's appeal against their penalty was heard on April 24, but an appeal board decided to uphold the punishment, which was itself more lenient than that requested by the Premier League.
In a statement released on Monday, the Premier League said: "The PSR sanction applied to the assessment period ending in season 2022-23 and was appealed by the club on two grounds.
"The club argued that the independent commission committed an error in not treating its sale of a high-profile player shortly after the assessment period as a mitigating factor, and that it committed a further error in electing not to suspend some or all of the points deduction it imposed.
"Each of these grounds was rejected by the appeal board, which found the independent commission was entitled to immediately impose the sanction it did. The four-point deduction will therefore remain in place."
It means Forest stay 17th in the table with 29 points, having pulled three clear of 18th-placed Luton Town by beating already-relegated Sheffield United 3-1 on Saturday.
Nuno Espirito Santo's team face Chelsea and Burnley in their final two games of 2023-24, with Luton likely to need at least four points from meetings with West Ham and Fulham to overhaul them.
Burnley, down in 19th, need to win their last two matches – against Tottenham and Forest – to have any chance of avoiding the drop.
Al Ahli 1-2 Al Hilal: Malcom saves league leaders' winning streak
Malcom’s stunning solo goal finished Al Hilal’s second-half comeback to earn a 2-1 win over Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Monday.
The forward started his run from inside his own half before slotting in the winner, after teeing up Aleksandr Mitrovic for the equaliser just after the interval.
Feras Al Brikan had given Al Ahli the lead in the 30th minute, but the hosts could not hold onto it against the league leaders.
Al Hilal continue their unbeaten league campaign to a 30th match, moving 12 points clear at the top of the table, while Al Ahli remain in third, now 22 points off the AFC Champions League spot.
Data Debrief
Malcom was one of Al Hilal's most influential players; as well as playing a hand in both goals, he had the joint-most shots (five), and the joint-most shots on target (two), and created two chances for his team.
Al Ahli also struggled to cope with Mitrovic's threat, as the Serbian created an xG of 0.61 from his five shots, having 11 touches in the opposition box.
Haaland pinpoints collective Man City quality after four-goal blitz of Wolves
Erling Haaland blasted four goals past Wolves in a one-man Premier League show but the Manchester City forward says it would not be possible without manager Pep Guardiola or his team-mates.
The City talisman took his top-flight tally to 25 for this season, moving five clear of his nearest challenger in the Premier League Golden Boot race, after Saturday's 5-1 thrashing of Wolves.
Haaland was twice on target from the penalty spot as part of his first-half hat-trick, adding another after the interval with an arrowed strike into the top-left corner.
It was the first time the Norway star has managed four goals in one Premier League game, with his quartet of strikes coming in 54 minutes. Only Gabriel Jesus has scored as many earlier in one match, doing so in 53 minutes against Watford in April 2022.
Haaland also became the third player to score multiple first-half hat-tricks in Premier League history (also against Nottingham Forest last season), along with Andrew Cole and Michael Owen (two each).
Yet the superstar attacker says his exploits would not be possible without his City colleagues or boss Guardiola.
"I've got a not-too-bad manager who pushes me and look at the players around me," Haaland told Sky Sports when asked about his motivations.
"Without them, it would not be possible. Look ahead, look to next one – four finals left for the season. We're going to go for it and focus on Fulham."
It was Haaland's sixth Premier League hat-trick for City, with only seven players netting more in the competition’s history. All six of those trebles have been at the Etihad, only three have more at a single venue.
Haaland's second strike came from a towering header following Rodri's right-wing centre, which he suggested would delight his father Alfie.
"That's a beautiful goal," the Norwegian said of his headed finish. "My father is going to be happy with that one.
"A nice celebration, I enjoyed that one. I'm scoring more headers, I try to develop and keep going."
City are within a point of Premier League leaders Arsenal and Guardiola's side still have a game in hand against Tottenham on May 14.
Despite the thrashing of Wolves, Haaland insists Guardiola remains intent on winning the remaining games, rather than calculating the probabilities needed on goal difference.
"First of all it's about winning the games but, of course, you want to have the best possible goal difference," he added. "Let's not think about that. Think about Fulham."
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