Pep Guardiola won't have been happy that Manchester City drew at Southampton, but there may have been some consolation that his message over the previous seven days had been proven right so quickly.
After beating Chelsea last week, City put 13 points between them and Thomas Tuchel's side, and remained 11 clear of Liverpool. The narrative went into overdrive that 'boring City' had ruined the best three-way title race in years, and that somehow, a team as good as Guardiola's on a run of form as brilliant as they were was a bad thing.
Guardiola was asked after the Chelsea game, and before the trip to Southampton, how to keep City players motivated now the title race was over, with some taking it as a given that they were to retain the league even with 16 games left to play.
