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Soccer

Pep Guardiola explains Manchester City's second-half adjustments in Everton win

Pep Guardiola explains Manchester City's second-half adjustments in Everton winGetty Images

Manchester City took hold of the top spot in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Everton on Saturday.

The match pitted title contenders City against the relegation-threatened Toffees, but it wasn't as straightforward as it would seem. The Sky Blues struggled with Everton's physicality in the first half and for much of the second, until Erling Haaland struck in the 71st and 85th minute to put the result beyond doubt.

It followed a recent trend when the two sides meet, as Everton have proven to be tough opposition for the reigning treble winners.

For City boss Pep Guardiola, there couldn't have been a bigger contrast between the two halves of football for his side, as it took an adjustment in attitude for the Sky Blues to get going.

“In the first half our body language was not good," Guardiola explained to BBC Match of the Day. "You cannot play good football if you are not positive. You do your best when you are positive, when you start to complain and are sad it does not work.

“We talked at half time and I told them, ‘what do you expect to come here and win 5-0? Come on. Life is tough and football is tough.’

“In the second half we increased and attacked the spaces we needed to. The team never dropped. We were stable and the back four is moving really well together and we have made a step forward in that sense. The players that came from the bench played perfectly."

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