Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola appeared to take a playful dig at Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino following their teams’ 1-1 draw in the Premier League on Saturday, February 17. Guardiola seemed to tease Pochettino for expressing satisfaction with the draw, despite Chelsea holding the lead for most of the match.
In an interview with BBC’s Match of the Day after the game, Guardiola remarked:
“Good, congratulations. If he believes that, that is good for his team. We knew it [Chelsea would be a challenge]. That was a good game. We played incredible in the second half. The first half was not our level but to compete against them teams you have to play 90 minutes, not just one half.”
Earlier, Pochettino had praised his players for their performance. Despite a challenging season for Chelsea, they put up a strong fight against Manchester City, maintaining a lead until the 83rd minute before Rodri’s deflected strike leveled the score.
Pochettino stated:
“I’m so pleased. I told the players I felt so proud. In the last three games, we’ve started to create a very good spirit. That’s the way we want to build our team. Today was a very good opportunity to show we’re going where we want.
The first half was good. We only conceded one chance – against a team like Manchester City who, for me, are the best team in the world.”
Chelsea has enjoyed a run of positive results after tough losses to Liverpool (1-4) and Wolves (2-4). They aim to maintain this momentum into the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool next weekend.
Meanwhile, City (53) remains in third place but missed an opportunity to climb to the top of the table. They still have a game in hand over Arsenal and Liverpool.
