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Pep Guardiola said it is incredible that Manchester City’s standards have not dropped over time after his team delivered a 2-1 home win against West Ham.
City defeated Everton 3-0 last Sunday in the Premier League prior to edging past Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday and defeating West Ham four days later.
Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring for the hosts at a snowy Etihad Stadium on Sunday, with substitute Fernandinho adding a second before Manuel Lanzini delivered a consolation strike for the visitors.
City, who have now kept seven clean sheets in their last eight Premier League home games, have triumphed in 10 of their last 11 top-flight meetings with West Ham.
After another positive result, Guardiola hailed the work of his squad who he believes exhibited a winning mentality that continues to serve them so well.
“We created enough chances against them, under these conditions and circumstances for both teams,” Guardiola told BBC Sport.
“The last 15-20 minutes was impossible to play but, especially after the game against PSG which was so demanding mentally and physically, to get this team performance, it’s a great result for us.
“The Premier League title is always the most important one of the season because of the fact you play a lot of games in special situations, the more you adapt and show resilience then we can show that mentality.
“After we have won three Premier Leagues in the last four years then it is easy for there to be a tendency for our standards to dip and to say it is not important.
“But to be near the top of the league and qualify [in the Champions League], after being six seasons together and the levels [of performance] still have not dropped – these guys are magnificent and incredible.”
West Ham have registered just one win in their last 16 Premier League visits to City, while collecting just five points from a possible 78 in games against all reigning champions.
However, Guardiola opted to praise the opposition as well as the ground staff that ensured the match could go ahead.
“We created chances and it could have been three or four,” he said. “The absences we had, all the guys that came in were brilliant and that’s why we win a lot, because of the mentality of these guys.
“We cannot forget which opponent we faced. West Ham have everything: Set-pieces they’re so strong, they defend really well, on counter-attacks they are a machine, they attack channels like no team in the Premier League. We know how difficult they are.
“The groundskeepers were the man of the match. They did an incredible job today.”
