Guardiola 'grateful' to O'Reilly after 'massively important' win
For Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side, the celebrations at full-time at Goodison Park on Saturday pointed to a monumental result in the context of their substandard campaign.
City have set the benchmark in English football, as the first side to win four top-flight titles in a row, but they will relinquish their hold on the trophy this season.
They also fell in the Champions League play-offs - and for 84 minutes on Merseyside, it seemed like they were facing a real battle to compete in Europe's elite club competition next term.
But two late goals from the emerging star Nico O'Reilly and experienced midfielder Mateo Kovacic gave City a hard-fought victory at Everton.
Asked how big the result was, Guardiola told BBC Sport: 'I would say big. We have five, six games left and with the moment they had after [winning against] Nottingham Forest away, [and given that] Liverpool and Arsenal could not win here, it is massively important.
'I've tried to convince the players that qualifying for the Champions League is a huge achievement in this country and in this league.
'Being in the Champions League is enough, thinking that is not enough for us would be arrogant.' BBC
For Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side, the celebrations at full-time at Goodison Park on Saturday pointed to a monumental result in the context of their substandard campaign.
City have set the benchmark in English football, as the first side to win four top-flight titles in a row, but they will relinquish their hold on the trophy this season.
They also fell in the Champions League play-offs - and for 84 minutes on Merseyside, it seemed like they were facing a real battle to compete in Europe's elite club competition next term.
But two late goals from the emerging star Nico O'Reilly and experienced midfielder Mateo Kovacic gave City a hard-fought victory at Everton.
Asked how big the result was, Guardiola told BBC Sport: 'I would say big. We have five, six games left and with the moment they had after [winning against] Nottingham Forest away, [and given that] Liverpool and Arsenal could not win here, it is massively important.
'I've tried to convince the players that qualifying for the Champions League is a huge achievement in this country and in this league.
'Being in the Champions League is enough, thinking that is not enough for us would be arrogant.' BBC
For Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side, the celebrations at full-time at Goodison Park on Saturday pointed to a monumental result in the context of their substandard campaign.
City have set the benchmark in English football, as the first side to win four top-flight titles in a row, but they will relinquish their hold on the trophy this season.
They also fell in the Champions League play-offs - and for 84 minutes on Merseyside, it seemed like they were facing a real battle to compete in Europe's elite club competition next term.
But two late goals from the emerging star Nico O'Reilly and experienced midfielder Mateo Kovacic gave City a hard-fought victory at Everton.
Asked how big the result was, Guardiola told BBC Sport: 'I would say big. We have five, six games left and with the moment they had after [winning against] Nottingham Forest away, [and given that] Liverpool and Arsenal could not win here, it is massively important.
'I've tried to convince the players that qualifying for the Champions League is a huge achievement in this country and in this league.
'Being in the Champions League is enough, thinking that is not enough for us would be arrogant.' BBC
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Guardiola 'grateful' to O'Reilly after 'massively important' win
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