Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan believes their win at Arsenal was a result of an improved standard in training in recent weeks and has backed his side to push on and begin a winning run to take control of the title race.
Gundogan was at the heart of City's important win against title rivals Arsenal, unselfishly finding Jack Grealish to put City ahead in the second half, then sparking the move that sent Kevin De Bruyne into the area to find Erling Haaland for the crucial third goal. After scoring himself in the last outing against Aston Villa, Gundogan is enjoying a good spell and was in a buoyant mood at full-time on Wednesday night.
Pointing to a renewed united in the City camp that has made its way from the training ground to matchday, Gundogan said the win at Arsenal was coming for a number of weeks.
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"I think we deserved the way we have trained in the last few weeks. It’s just the outcome, what you see on the pitch," he said, while reiterating the need to keep ahead of three title rivals.
"Of course you go through periods where you struggle but I don’t remember any season where we won the league and we didn’t have a period of struggles. That’s part of it and it makes the wins, games like this, even more appreciated. This is what we need and now it’s about trying to win the next game.
"This season feels like to be on top you have to go on such a run. We have still Arsenal, United who are close, even Newcastle, they can still win a lot of games. It’s a long road with a lot of games to play. We need to be prepared but from our experience of recent years we know we are capable of doing it.
"The aim is to stay there but Arsenal have a game in hand and with one point they can go top again. But it’s still a long season, plenty of games to play and challenges ahead. So we have to just think about the next one which is Forest on Saturday."
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