Harry Kane Determines Spurs' Victory Over City, Guardiola: He Doesn't Need To Score To Show His Quality

JAKARTA - Pep Guardiola praised Harry Kane who was the decisive factor in Tottenham Hotspur's victory in the match against Manchester City. The 28-year-old striker is considered not to need to score goals to prove his quality.

Guardiola's squad lost 2-3 when they hosted Spurs in the 2021-2022 Premier League week at the Etihad Stadium, England, on Sunday, February 20 in the morning. Kane scored the winner in stoppage time to kill the hosts' dream of picking up points.

"He didn't have to score today to show his quality. The whole of England knows how good he is," Guardiola said as quoted by The Guardian.

This defeat made City unable to widen the distance of points with their closest competitor Liverpool who filled the second position of the standings board. The Citizens now hold on to the top spot with 63 points, while the Reds are trailing with a gap of only six points.

The difference in points is likely to be smaller because Liverpool have one game postponed. In addition, the opportunity for the Reds to cut the gap in points is also open when the two teams meet at the Etihad on April 9.

Guardiola said that the competition in the Premier League is really tight. The Spanish coach said his team did not have to lose to understand the difficulty of defending the title in Queen Elizabeth's elite competition.

"We don't need to lose a game to know how difficult it is [to win the league]. There are many, many games still to be played. I said a few weeks ago that we need a lot of points and it's going to be very difficult because the teams we are playing against are struggling. for the Champions League or the Europa League or not being relegated," Guardiola said.

"There are still a lot of games to go and a lot of points to fight for and we know how difficult it will be. We know what we need to do to be there [in the end]. Now we have to come back. It will be good to understand how difficult it is [to win the title]. We will now train and prepare for the next game," he continued.

The defeat against Spurs was the first defeat for Guardiola's squad in the league since October last year when they went down two goals without reply against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.

City will next play away to Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday, 27 February 2022.