Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has taken aim at his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola after Spurs' 3-2 Premier League win at the Etihad Stadium.

Conte mocked the latter's assertion that Tottenham played on the counterattack during their dramatic victory in a post on Instagram.

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min starred as Spurs grabbed a last-gasp win at the home of the Premier League champions, despite twice having squandered a one-goal lead.

Each of Tottenham's last three wins in the Premier League have now come courtesy of 90th-minute goals (1-0 v Watford, 3-2 v Leicester City, 3-2 v Man City), as Spurs kept pace with their rivals in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

After the contest, during which the visitors managed just 29 per cent of the possession and racked up six shots to City's 21, City boss Guardiola told of how the north London team had "defended in the 18-yard box" before catching the league leaders on the break.

Conte has now moved to mock those assertions on social media after dealing City their first Premier League defeat since October.

On his personal Instagram account, Conte posted a video of his team's three goals in the match, displaying the complete build-up to each, with the caption "Counterattacks?!? Maybe not…", complete with three laughing emojis.

The former Juventus, Chelsea, and Inter boss has led Tottenham to 11 wins in 20 matches since taking charge across all competitions, with their comeback win in Manchester ending a run of three successive league defeats for the top-four contenders. 

Spurs will continue their chase for European football when they face Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday, having only lost one of their last 12 Premier League meetings with the Clarets.

Pep Guardiola was given a stark reminder of what Harry Kane might have brought to Manchester City but insisted that transfer saga belonged in the past after a shock 3-2 defeat to Tottenham.

City had taken 43 points from a possible 45 across their last 15 Premier League games, while Spurs were on a three-game losing skid heading into Saturday's game at the Etihad Stadium.

Yet a double from Kane, including a winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time, gave the visitors a famous win, completing an improbable double over last season's champions.

City lead the way in the English top flight again this year, but their lead over Liverpool is down to six points, and Jurgen Klopp's team have a game in hand.

Guardiola said City had been involved in a "good game", pointing to Tottenham's deep defending as making his side's task difficult.

He added praise for how Tottenham's front three of Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski offered a threat to City's backline, adding on Sky Sports: "They are clinical, and the crosses we could not defend."

City wanted Kane during the last close-season, and the feeling was probably mutual, but the England captain remained at Tottenham and has been rejuvenated by Antonio Conte's mid-season arrival.

There is now a genuine title race, and Guardiola said: "I don't need a game today to know it. I knew it a month ago. There's many, many games to play. People are going to drop points."

When asked about Kane in a later news conference, Guardiola said signing the striker "never was an option" for City, despite admitting there was interest, and urged people to "forget" that saga.

He should be so lucky.

"It's not necessary for him to show today the goals he scored to show his quality with the ball. All the UK knows it," Guardiola said, signalling Kane's display came as no surprise.

Spurs boss Conte was impressed his team put their recent rocky form behind them to produce such an eye-catching result.

New recruit Kulusevski scored the opener after slick play involving Kane and Son, and Kane restored Tottenham's lead after an Ilkay Gundogan leveller. Riyad Mahrez looked to have pinched a point with a late penalty, only for Kane to head his second goal of the game.

Conte told Sky Sports: "It was a good win for us and a win we need to try to give us more confidence. it wasn't simple to play against Manchester City after three losses in a row, but this is a process. We are working very hard to try to improve every aspect.

"This type of game has to give us confidence to trust the work we are doing. It was important there was a reaction [to the defeats]."

Conte described Kane as "highly important", adding: "He had chances to score and I think in every game we created the chances to score, and today our strikers did very well and Harry was very good to keep the ball.

"I think the first goal was great because this goal is about our job, our work that we are doing every day."

But Conte warned: "One win is not enough. Don't forget we are coming after three losses, but for sure to win against Manchester City can give you confidence and to trust in what you are doing.

"We can improve a lot. This is a group of players that is fantastic, this group is one of the best groups of players I've worked with in my career. We have a lot of work to do but we are not scared to work."

Ever since Manchester City gave up on signing Harry Kane, it had looked like a decision where only the reigning Premier League champions came out better off.

They have become relatively comfortable at the top of the league, easing through the Champions League with the minimum of fuss and scoring plenty of goals along the way.

Meanwhile, Kane and Tottenham have had an under-par campaign, with the England striker managing just five Premier League goals in 21 games, until Saturday.

City were made to face every single doubt they would have had about missing out on Kane as Spurs put a dent in their title aspirations with a 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium.

Despite largely dominating the game, City looked like a team without a natural goalscorer, and without a focal point.

For all of their play around the Spurs box, they rarely looked like carving out a clear chance against a resilient backline.

Meanwhile, Kane was biding his time, before making a significant difference on the rare occasions his team had the ball.

His pass for Son Heung-min in the build-up to the fourth-minute opener was sublime. With his weaker foot he hit a first-time pass into the path of his partner in crime, who found Dejan Kulusevski to finish.

Kane was dropping deep and spraying passes, showing the sort of ability that drew Pep Guardiola to him in the first place. The 28-year-old is a world-class striker but has developed his game to be more involved in setting up attacks.

In all honesty, that would not be all that necessary at City such is their array of creative talent. Had Kane done the same in a sky blue shirt on this occasion, he would merely have been doing as others were, playing balls into the box for Spurs to tidy up.

However, in the second half, Kane went back to what he knows and became everything City were missing.

His run and calm first-time finish from Son's ball to restore Tottenham's lead was vintage Kane, and his movement to work an opening to nearly score again minutes later, only to be denied by an excellent Ederson save, was a hint of more to come.

It almost felt like a direct comment from him to put his first shot of the day in the back of the net after seeing City be so wasteful in front of goal.

Another deadly finish appeared to have made it 3-1, only for VAR to rule it out for offside, but Kane would be the man to have the final word after Riyad Mahrez's late penalty seemed to save City. With a deft header, Kane sensationally won the game for the team he seemingly hoped to swap for City last year.

Unusually lacklustre from City

After the departure of Sergio Aguero at the end of last season, the narrative seemed to be that City absolutely needed a top-class striker or else they'd struggle.

That has very much not been the case after missing out on Kane. They have still won 20 of 26 league games this season, and only Liverpool (64) have scored more goals than their 63.

They have also scored 23 goals in seven Champions League games, including five in the week against Sporting from just six shots on target.

Guardiola's men have divided up their scoring among their attackers this season, with Mahrez (18), Raheem Sterling (13), Bernardo Silva (10) and Phil Foden (nine) all contributing.

The kind of ruthlessness they showed in Lisbon was not on show here, though. Despite having the vast majority of possession (71.5 per cent) and 21 shots to Tottenham's six, they had fewer shots on target (four to five).

It is a rare occasion that we see City fall behind, as they did here, three times.

In the 53 games in which they have trailed at any point in the Premier League under Pep, they have been beaten on 30 occasions (W12 D11), and they have now lost 21 of 44 games in which they have conceded first in the league in that time.

It would be silly for City and Guardiola to panic after this game, but they have to be wary of this becoming a template to beat them.

Then again, most opposition teams won't have Kane playing for them.

Conte's new boys come to the fore

While Guardiola will be scratching his head as to how his team lost, Antonio Conte will probably still be running round his living room cheering into the small hours of the morning.

This was a proper Conte performance, staying organised and respecting the threat of the opponent, while showing guts in possession, even late in the game when they looked to be holding on.

The Italian stirred the pot this week with comments about the January transfer window, lamenting that Spurs let go of four players he viewed as "important" while signing only two new ones, who would be perhaps more for the future than the present.

No one told Kulusevski that it seemed as the Swedish winger flourished as part of the visiting attack, grabbing a goal and an assist.

He was also unlucky to be judged offside for Kane's chalked-off goal in the second half.

Rodrigo Bentancur, who, like Kulusevski, joined from Juventus in January, had a quieter game in midfield, but still managed to make three tackles (only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made more for Spurs – four) and regained possession five times.

Perhaps the manager's words were meant for both chairman Daniel Levy and for the players, with Kulusevski showing he can be one for now as well as the future.

This game was all about one man though: Kane.

He received deserved words of praise from two other great England strikers, with Gary Lineker tweeting to say: "Superb from Kane. Not just the goal but his overall display. Brilliant."

Alan Shearer was similarly effusive, also saying on Twitter: "A centre forward masterclass from Kane."

If Tottenham are to finish in the top four, they will need more performances like this from their talisman.

Should Kane return to his best on a regular basis, we could come full circle at the end of the campaign with City reigniting their interest in him.

Especially so, if it turns out that the day he came back to haunt them triggered a significant tide turn in the Premier League title race.

Pep Guardiola insists he is not frustrated with Manchester City's failure to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham last year.

The England striker appeared eager to leave north London for the Etihad Stadium, but City were unable to persuade Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to cash in on his star performer.

It looked as though not recruiting a new centre-forward could scupper City's plans this season after they lost to Leicester City in the Community Shield and Spurs in the Premier League back in August, in a match Kane sat out amid the uncertainty over his future.

Yet City have since embarked on an imperious run of form, winning 20 and losing just one of their subsequent league games to open up a nine-point gap at the top of the table.

Kane, meanwhile, has scored just five times in the league in 2021-22, his minutes-per-goal rate of 358.4 more than twice as bad as at any other time in his career. Spurs, meanwhile, are on a three-match losing streak ahead of Saturday's clash with City at the Etihad Stadium.

"I was never in my 11 or 12-year career disappointed in what the club I manage cannot do in the transfer market," Guardiola said. "And I never created a fire here because I represent the club and the club is always beyond myself by far.

"When we have some talks and cannot agree, we do it internally. We tried [for Kane] but it was far away [from] being done because Tottenham were clear this is not going to happen. And when they say this two, three, four times, it's over.

"Now you can say: 'Harry Kane didn't come and everything is going well.' But at the time I didn't know it. We lost to Spurs and Leicester in the Community Shield. And I [didn't] know what will happen in the next few weeks.

"The club gave me players, and I'm always delighted – and it's then what we can do together. Maybe if we had a proper striker we would play with a striker but with the players we have, we have to adapt.

"I know they [the club] do the best for me. When we lose we are sad, but nobody is pointing fingers saying: 'Your fault, your fault, your fault.' We don't do that. That's why I'm happy here. At other clubs when you lose it's 'what's the problem?'."

In 2016-17, when Antonio Conte was in charge of Chelsea, he became the first manager to inflict a league double over Guardiola in the same season.

In the first of those meetings in December 2016, Guardiola tried to match Conte's back-three system and lost the game 3-1, a mistake he is unlikely to repeat.

"We played three at the back, we lost 3-1," he said. "What a decision I made."

Pep Guardiola has no doubt Antonio Conte can lead Tottenham to sustained success, but only if the Italian gets the backing he needs.

Spurs boss Conte this week appeared to suggest his playing resources had been weakened by trading in the January transfer window.

Conte clarified his position on Friday when he stressed that was only a view he took in terms of squad numbers, saying the arrivals of Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus had in fact improved the quality at his disposal.

While Conte insisted Spurs chairman Daniel Levy knows his true thoughts, the merest implication of any unhappiness from the head coach has come at a bad time, with the team on a three-game losing run in the Premier League.

They have gone down to Chelsea, Southampton and Wolves, dealing a blow to hopes that Conte might lead the team to a top-four finish and a place in next season's Champions League.

Now Guardiola's Manchester City await Spurs on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium, in the ultimate test for any English team.

City have lost just one of their last 11 home league games against Tottenham (W8 D2), going down 2-1 in February 2016. However, they did lose the reverse fixture on the opening weekend of the season.

Guardiola spoke of his admiration for Conte, saying on Friday: "If the club rely on him 100 per cent, they will have success.

"My first season here was tough in terms of results. Every manager needs time, he needs investment, he needs many, many things to be there for a long time or have success, especially in this country.

"All the managers need time. Unfortunately in football we don't have time. I had time, the club gave me this time, that's why I will always be grateful, but all the managers need time to make plans and try to convince the players to follow what you feel."

Guardiola said being a head coach in England was "more difficult than any other part of the world". But he believes Conte has demonstrated with Juventus, Chelsea and the Italy national side that he is a coach who consistently improves teams.

"I have incredible respect for the fact when I watch his teams I feel there's something new I can learn and I can improve," Guardiola said.

Tottenham have scored just 17 times in the Premier League from an expected goals (xG) total of 23.2 since Conte took charge at the start of November. Over the same period, City have scored 40 goals from an xG tally of 33.5.

Replying to comments from Conte in which he labelled Guardiola the world's best coach, the City boss added: "Thank you so much, but I am not. I appreciate it, but I'm not."

Spurs have won three of their last four Premier League games against City, as many as they had managed in their previous 13 against them. However, these last three victories have all been in home games.

Should they pull off the league double this term, it will be the first time Spurs have achieved that against reigning English top-flight champions since they beat Liverpool 1-0 home and away in the 1986-87 season.

City have taken 43 points from the last 45 available, roaring away at the top of the table, but Guardiola says a wounded Spurs could make his task complicated.

"This is the problem, the fact they've lost three times in a row it will be more difficult tomorrow, for sure, 100 per cent," he said.

"It's difficult for top teams to lose four times in a row. They have a lot of weapons. We know how with Son [Heung-min] we've suffered, with Harry Kane, with [Lucas] Moura. They have a lot of quality."

Pep Guardiola only got a grip of the danger Manchester City were in when he watched footage of the team's aborted landing on their return from Lisbon, hailing a "magnificent" pilot.

A video posted online showed the aeroplane on which City were travelling being rocked by high winds on Wednesday afternoon as it approached Manchester Airport.

That was the effect of Storm Dudley, which has been followed by Storm Eunice, as the United Kingdom has been hit hard by inclement weather.

But Guardiola hailed a hero pilot for keeping City's travelling party calm and negotiating a safe landing in Liverpool after struggling with the Manchester approach.

The team were on their way back from Portugal after a stunning 5-0 win at Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

"To be honest, when I saw the video, I said, 'Wow, it was more scary than we felt'," Guardiola said on Friday.

"It was bumping a lot, like many times. It was a moment like we were going down, and immediately the engines started to roll on, and we go up, and in the moment we said, 'Oh, something happened'.

"But we had a pilot who did incredibly well. He talked to us and was so calm and said, 'It's wind, so we're going to try again to land in Manchester'. After five minutes he said we were going to land in Liverpool.

"The pilot was magnificent because we felt a little bit anxious, but thanks to the words and the way he talked to us, everyone was calm."

Guardiola joked that City received a familiar warm welcome on Merseyside. His team and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool are the Premier League's current established top two.

"For sure," said City's manager. "Always they are so kind to us."

Speaking in a news conference at 13:30 GMT on Friday, ahead of Saturday's clash with Tottenham, Guardiola said his players would be heading out to train in the wind later in the day.

"We're going to train now in two hours," he said. "Hopefully with the wind we cannot miss players flying to the sky, so we'll see."

Pep Guardiola considered Bernardo Silva's first goal against Sporting CP on Tuesday "one of the best I've ever seen".

Silva, a former Benfica player returning to Lisbon, netted twice in Manchester City's stunning 5-0 defeat of Sporting in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

The moment of the match came 17 minutes in when the City midfielder thundered a half-volley in off the crossbar to put the visitors two up.

Silva had not scored a Champions League goal since the same stage of last year's tournament, with his two on Tuesday meaning five of his eight City strikes in the competition have been netted in the last 16.

This was Silva's first ever Champions League brace and took him to 10 goals for the season in all competitions – his most in a single club campaign since 13 in 2018-19.

Guardiola has long felt Silva could score more often, as he told a news conference: "Always I tell him: Bernardo, you are a perfect player, defensively so intuitive, can run 12km, 13km – but with sense, not just running for running – and with the ball he's more than exceptional.

"But I always say: you have to score goals, you have to win games, you have the ability to do it.

"And today, with the [first] goal, he scored one of the best I've ever seen – for the technique, for everything. Hopefully he can get confidence [from the goal]."

Silva also added his third assist of the season for Raheem Sterling's fifth goal, while his three tackles were a joint-high among City players in an all-action display that showed why Guardiola considers the midfielder "unique".

"He can play in six roles, easily," the City manager said. "He doesn't just play football; he understands the game. There are players that play good with the ball, but he understands the game, exactly what he needs with every action.

"There are few in the world [like him], few. He's a fantastic player.

"Hopefully he can stay with Man City for many, many years, but it depends of course the club will decide and himself."

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said his players can do much better despite a record-breaking 5-0 win over Sporting CP in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

City became the first team in Champions League history to lead an away knockout match by four goals at the break after a brace from Bernardo Silva and strikes from Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden.

Raheem Sterling added a sublime fifth after the interval as City racked up the joint-biggest winning margin in a Champions League knockout game.

It was also the Premier League champions' biggest ever win in an away game in any round of the competition.

While acknowledging his side's ruthlessness in front of goal, Guardiola did criticise his side for giving the ball away cheaply.

Asked if it was a perfect performance, Guardiola told BT Sport: "No. Some players underperformed and we lost easy balls, but we were so clinical.

"We saw in the first five or six minutes how good Sporting are. The difference between the two teams is not 5-0 but we were so clinical. We punished them.

"There is one rule in football when you have the ball and that's not to lose it. We had some simple passes that we lost. Against the top sides in Europe we would be punished.

"It's just a game with a fantastic result. We have one more game to be in the quarter-finals and this is what you want but the players know with me and the way we work that we can do better.

"I'm incredibly happy, please don't misunderstand me, but we can do better."

Lisbon-born Silva, who started his career at Sporting's city rivals Benfica, registered his first goals in the Champions League since netting in the last 16 in last year's competition.

Indeed, five of his eight Champions League goals for the Citizens have come in this round.

But despite City's commanding lead, the 27-year-old insisted they will not take next month's second leg lightly.

"I am Portuguese and I'm from the other side of the city so it was special to score here in my hometown," he said.

"It was nice to start the last 16 with a 5-0 win. It's always an extra motivation to come here to Lisbon in such an important game. There is still a job to do in Manchester. We cannot relax.

"It was a very good performance. In the first half we were in that mood to win 4-0. We were a bit sloppy which gave them the opportunity to counter-attack but we were very clinical.

"You need some luck as well. We are very happy with the win. To win 5-0 away is a great result and it's a great performance.

"Sometimes you play better than we did in that first half and we have gone in 0-0. We can always still improve."

City are next in action on Saturday when they host Tottenham in the Premier League.

Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo described the attack on his home late last year as "horrific". 

Cancelo revealed on social media in December that "four cowards" left him with cuts to his face and tried to hurt his family before making off with some jewellery. 

The Portuguese full-back on Monday discussed the incident publicly for the first time and detailed the impact it had on his family. 

"That's life, it happens," Cancelo said ahead of Tuesday's Champions League last-16 meeting with Sporting CP.

"It was horrific. It terrorised my family. For me, I know how to deal with stuff, but my family didn't deserve to go through that. 

"There have been a lot of obstacles in my life and I have had to get over them. I've become a stronger player mentally and that's how I want to keep going on. 

"I could drop my head but however much people try to make me suffer, they won't achieve it. I always like to think positively, that's how I live my life in the best way possible." 

Despite the incident and its potential mental impact, Cancelo has continued to perform at a high level on the pitch and secured a new contract at the start of February.

That announcement was further evidence of the significant strides Cancelo has made since his arrival at the Etihad Stadium in 2019. 

Pep Guardiola explained at the time that the former Juventus wing-back had initially struggled to adapt, and Cancelo took full responsibility. 

"There were complications with the coach," Cancelo said. 

"I hadn't adapted to the way the team were playing. Coming from Juventus, who had a different way of playing, I wanted to enjoy football and show my quality but it was more my responsibility than the coach's. It was my fault. 

"I had to adapt to the team's style of play. As I managed to recover, like I do in life with my desire to win in life and football, I'm happy. Credit to me, but it was not just credit as it took a lot of desire, that I managed to become the player I am today." 

Joao Cancelo believes Manchester City "deserve to win the Champions League" and says the team need to embrace the pressure of finally landing European football's most coveted prize.

City fell at the last hurdle last season, losing 1-0 to Chelsea in the final, with Kai Havertz's first-half goal proving the difference.

It was the first time under boss Pep Guardiola in which City had progressed beyond the quarter-final stage in the competition, and Cancelo is determined to help his side go all the way this time around.

"This club deserves to win the Champions League," Cancelo said ahead of City's round of 16 first-leg clash at Sporting CP on Tuesday. "It's what this club works towards and it's what we are trying to do this season.

"The team are going through a good phase. We don't concede many and we score a lot. That reflects our daily work. Now, we concentrate on the Champions League. Against Sporting – that's the game we want to win.

"We're a very strong team. The players we have know how to deal with the pressure of getting to the Champions League final - but we are up against the best teams in Europe. We need to embrace pressure."

Guardiola hailed the confidence and harmony within the City camp, suggesting their 2-1 defeat to RB Leipzig in their last group-stage game - a dead rubber with top spot tied up - was down to a lack of mental preparation.

"Confidence [has always been] high [within the squad]," Guardiola said. "Not just this season or the previous season. We have been behaving for a long time with the highest standards. We had an incredible run [in the Champions League last season].

"In Leipzig, we weren't ready mentally after already qualifying, the rest was good. I say every day, compete for ourselves. Every three days, we've done that for the last years and will do that again tomorrow.

"The harmony [within the squad] right now is exceptional. Thanks to the captains and many reasons. It is exceptional. We know each other well. It’s been six seasons, we know each other perfectly. We accept the good things, the bad things, to fight and be part of that."

Pep Guardiola admits he does not know whether Raheem Sterling will sign a new contract with Manchester City, but he would love him to stay.

Sterling netted a 'perfect' hat-trick in City's 4-0 win over Norwich on Saturday, as finishes with his left foot, right foot and head took his tally to 10 league goals for the season.

The England man has 18 months left to run on his current deal at the Etihad Stadium, and has previously spoken about an interest in playing abroad in the future.

Ahead of City's Champions League trip to Portuguese giants Sporting, Guardiola praised Sterling's contribution but stressed others at the club will handle discussions with the forward.

"What I want is the best for the players," Guardiola said. "I'm pleased if they're happy, but the contract is not my business. I've never been involved.

"I've known Raheem for six seasons. This season, he has been outstanding with goals and assists, and in his contribution to the team.

"During any period there are highs and lows, there are problems, this is part of life. This is not a honeymoon. There are always problems that you have to try to solve.

"Nobody doubts how important it is [to keep Sterling]. If we count the amount of games he played since we have been together, it's a lot, he has been a key player.

"In the future, I don’t know what is going to happen, because the club decides, all the time. About extending contracts for players, I give my opinion of course, but the club decides."

Sterling's 10 Premier League goals have been scored from chances amounting to 9.37 expected goals, meaning it is a solid return, and the 27-year-old has started 15 of City's 25 Premier League matches this term as Guardiola continues to rotate his squad.

The 51-year-old City manager was also keen to stress none of his attackers were guaranteed to start when Champions League football resumes in midweek, and that nobody at the club was "untouchable".

"They know nobody has a guarantee [of starting matches], even if they play good, because I have to try to handle the squad in the best way possible," Guardiola said.

"Nobody here is untouchable, not even me. The club is above and beyond all of us."

Raheem Sterling was the focus of Pep Guardiola's praise after the Manchester City attacker netted a hat-trick in the 4-0 win at Norwich City.

Having opened the scoring with a superb long-range strike, Sterling headed home a Ruben Dias cross, then scored left-footed after seeing a weak penalty parried away by Canaries stopper Angus Gunn, giving the England international a perfect hat-trick as City moved 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Sterling has now racked up 10 goal contributions (eight goals and two assists) in his last eight Premier League games against Norwich, and has scored five Premier League hat-tricks since joining the club in 2015.

He is the third City player to score a perfect hat-trick in the Premier League, after Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero (twice), though no player has netted more away hat-tricks in the competition than Sterling, with each of his last three coming on the road.

The former Liverpool winger averages a goal or assist every 66 minutes in the Premier League against Norwich – he only has a better record against Watford (64 minutes) – and Guardiola was full delighted.

"He made a fantastic game," the 51-year-old said of Sterling, who is City's top scorer in the league with 10 goals so far this season despite reportedly being open to leaving the club last year.

"Especially after the [first] goal, he was so aggressive and direct. 

"He made a fantastic goal [the opener], and for the second one he was there.

"He has been an incredibly important player in all these seasons, with the amount of goals and assists [he gets]. He always creates something.

"When he has confidence, he is a really important player."

Sterling was on fire at Carrow Road, scoring his three goals from chances equating to 2.09 expected goals, and attempting more shots (five) than any other player on the pitch.

Phil Foden also got on the scoresheet, though fellow England attacker Jack Grealish missed the match through injury, and Guardiola was uncertain when asked about the timescale of the 26-year-old's return.

"I hope [the injury is not serious]. We will see," Guardiola explained.

"I don't know if he will be ready for Tuesday [against Sporting in the Champions League]. After [the] Brentford [game] we trained and he was uncomfortable.

"He was not able to play today, but hopefully in the next days [he can]."

Pep Guardiola heaped praise on his rival bosses in the Premier League as the Manchester City manager claimed he has "never known this level before".

Guardiola's reigning top-flight champions are the runaway league leaders once more this season, sitting nine points clear of Liverpool going into the weekend – albeit Jurgen Klopp's side held a game in hand.

City created the gap at the summit with a 12-game winning streak in the league between October and January, which they embarked on after a 2-0 home loss to Crystal Palace.

That was the ninth run in the Premier League of 12 or more successive victories in the competition's history, with Guardiola responsible for four of those with City.

But the former Barcelona head coach believes the quality and variety of management styles is what makes England's top division different from any other in the world.

"I have never known this level before," Guardiola told Sky Sports in an interview released on Saturday.

"Of course, there are managers in Germany, Italy and Spain, but in the Premier League, these are the best managers, the elite managers. The quality, the preparation. The level is so high."

"The nice thing about the Premier League is that there are five or six different ways to play and, when you do it well, it works. It is not a pattern, teams playing one way all the time. Teams play differently even within a game, and you have to solve the problem.

"You cannot imagine the hard work that goes in behind the scenes. That is why it is so much more difficult to win games now than when I started 13 or 14 years ago.

"Compared to when I started at Barcelona, it has gone much, much further. The level has improved a lot. The quality, the methodology, the training sessions, the analysis of what exactly the opponent is going to do and what your team can do to punish them.

"Younger managers such as [Aston Villa's] Steven Gerrard and [Everton's] Frank Lampard, who were players when I became a manager, they are incredibly well prepared. They have a curiosity. They understand a lot. They study the reasons why, offensively and defensively.

"It is partly thanks to the facilities that we have now. The drones, the wide angles, the databases. Many things help to build a picture of who you are as a team and who the opponents are as a team. After that, you can take the decisions as a manager easily."

Guardiola has had success wherever he has gone, whether that be with City, Bayern Munich or Barcelona.

In fact, since the Spaniard took charge at the Etihad Stadium, City have collected 503 points in the Premier League – 36 more than second-placed Liverpool and 88 more than Chelsea in third.

However, the 51-year-old does not acknowledge his work as revolutionary and insisted some teams' biggest mistake is trying to replicate the identity of those who have previously had success.

"I did not come here to think I was going to change anything," he continued. "I did not do that in Munich either. I just do what I want. I want to influence my players. That is all. I am not arrogant enough to think I can control anything beyond my team.

"I remember years ago when teams would win the World Cup, whatever nationality, and afterwards we would all analyse the winner and say this is the tendency that we will see in the next years. Everyone wants to copy the winner. This is a big mistake. Football is not copy and paste."

Pep Guardiola does not believe Jurgen Klopp has given up on the Premier League title race and says Manchester City and Liverpool have changed the standards in England's top flight, much like Rafael Nadal in tennis.

Klopp's Liverpool are nine points adrift of reigning champions City, albeit the Reds have a game in hand over their sensational rivals.

As well as that extra game, Liverpool still have to face City again in the league in April, as the two most dominant teams in the division over the past few seasons again battle it out alone for supremacy.

However, when asked about Liverpool's pursuit of City by BT Sport after beating Leicester City 2-0 on Thursday, Klopp laughed and replied: "I don't think they smell our breath already, but we just try to win football games."

Guardiola, though, has no doubt Klopp has full belief he and his side can still finish on top come the end of the season.

"I don't believe him. Absolutely I'd believe, and he thinks the same that anything can happen," he said ahead of City facing Norwich City this weekend.

"He has to win a lot of games."

Manchester City won the title with a record 100 points in the 2017-18 season, before retaining their title with 98 the following campaign – one more than Liverpool managed.

Liverpool's own title triumph in 2019-2020 was achieved with 99 points, and Guardiola said the two teams have set new standards – much like tennis great Nadal did when he won his 21st singles grand slam title at the Australian Open, a record for a male player.

"The first title was 100 points and the margin was bigger, nine points or maybe six, it's nothing. When you have 40 points to play it can happen," he added.

"Both teams have shown it, they can do it again and so can we. Same managers, squads and ideas. They can do it and so can we. That is the reality. 

"We have to look at what we do tomorrow. When we have this many games and they are tough, we look at the next game, with the big problems, that's why it’s the best title in England. 

"So many problems and so many teams, these two teams are so consistent. This run we are on and we are only six points ahead, because the opponent is so good. We will play game by game.

"Us and Liverpool have risen the standards, getting 100 points. Liverpool with 98 and 99. Other teams look at that as the level. 

"When you win the 100 metres race, that is the standard. Nadal has 21 grand slams, that is the standard. He marked that."

Pep Guardiola has braced Manchester City for an assault by Liverpool on their Premier League supremacy.

City's lead stands at nine points after 24 matches, although second-placed Liverpool have a game in hand, and the manner of the Reds' 2-0 win over Leicester City on Thursday spoke of their continuing belief.

A dip over the Christmas and New Year period cost Liverpool substantial ground in the title race, but they are looking sharp again for Jurgen Klopp, setting up the prospect of a tantalising final few months of the season.

City and Liverpool are due to meet on April 9 at the Etihad Stadium, and that could yet be a pivotal moment in the title race.

"If we want to fight to win the Premier League, we will have to win an incredible amount of points against these opponents that we've faced in the last seasons many, many times," City manager Guardiola told a news conference on Friday.

"The margin against Liverpool is nothing. We have to win a lot, a lot, a lot of games. We have to get more than 90 [points] - 95, 96 to be champions.

"I'm pretty sure of that right now."

Reigning champions City have reached 60 points through 24 games, and if they carry on at that rate they are on course to hit 95 points for the season, while winning every game would take them to 102 for the campaign.

Liverpool can post a maximum of 96 points if they win their 15 remaining fixtures, and Guardiola does not expect the Reds to drop many.

Guardiola, whose team face Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday, spoke about Liverpool's threat amid a broader point on how he expects his City players to perform week-in, week-out.

He says he was raised in a culture at Barcelona, since he was a youth player, to take nothing for granted, no matter how sunny the outlook might seem. 

"I was born in Barcelona and I grew up in the academy. They taught me everything and the best way, even there, is [to think] that everything can go wrong," Guardiola said.

"We've made an incredible run so far in the Premier League, and now Liverpool is there behind the corner. That shows how difficult our opponent is, how good it is.

"It's not about the mentality, because these players have showed in the last years they're not scared. [The aim is] to face every single game with optimism and being positive, but knowing that of course we can lose by being bad and drop points.

"This is not the issue, it is how you behave in the moment when you are losing games."

He recalled a moment in City's midweek win over Brentford when Kevin De Bruyne rushed back to help out John Stones in defence, pointing to that as an example of how to give everything.

"You can lose. Of course you're going to lose, nobody wins always," Guardiola said.

"But it's the way you lose. You can lose in different ways. Many times when we lose, we lose as a great team, and you become a great team with the way you lose, not the way you win, and we have to continue this way."

Guardiola spoke once more about Riyad Mahrez, who has scored in each of his last seven appearances for City across all competitions. The last player to score in more consecutively for the club was Sergio Aguero in the 2013-14 season (eight games).

Asked whether Mahrez was in the prime of his City career, Guardiola said: "No, last season was his best moment. He can still do better this season to reach the level he reached in the last four, five, six months of last season. Last season was outstanding, the way he played and produced."

Guardiola has a win rate of 88 per cent against English managers in the Premier League (P66 W58), the highest of any manager to take charge of five or more such games.

His four games against Englishman Dean Smith, Norwich's former Aston Villa boss, have all been won by an aggregate score of 13-2.

However, Norwich have won seven points from their most recent three Premier League games this season, just one fewer than they had taken from their previous 12 fixtures (W2 D2 L8).

Smith is looking to become the first Norwich manager to go unbeaten for four Premier League matches since Chris Hughton in February 2013.

The visitors have other ideas, with Guardiola's City having won nine and drawn two of their 11 away games in the league since an opening defeat to Tottenham.

It is close to perfection, but Guardiola pointed out that is an unattainable goal in football.

"A team will never be perfect," said the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona head coach.

"As a human being, we are imperfect. Perfection doesn't exist in sports, especially in football."