Pep Guardiola admits it will be difficult for Manchester City to hit same heights as record-breaking campaign ever again after reaching 100 points Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5725655/Pep-Guardiola-Man-City-topping-record-breaking-season.html#ixzz5FSLA8O2l Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Pep Guardiola
thinks runaway champions Manchester City can improve their performances
but not their points tally next season following a breathtaking climax
to a record-breaking campaign.
City became the first club to accumulate 100 Premier League points in a single season thanks to a dramatic last-gasp lob from substitute Gabriel Jesus in Sunday's 1-0 win at Southampton.
Victory
on the south coast meant Guardiola's men ended a remarkable 2017-18
campaign on yet another high ahead of Monday's title parade through the
streets of Manchester.
Pep Guardiola celebrates Gabriel Jesus's late winner against Southampton on Sunday
And the Spaniard believes it is possible for his players to come back even stronger after the summer break.
'A
team is individual players and always you can improve individual
players, so with that it makes sense to go to the training sessions and
do it,' said manager Guardiola.
'When you analyse the numbers, I would say we can't improve the numbers, no. We cannot be better in terms of numbers.
'In
terms of playing football, yes. Because the players can do better, the
manager as well, in a group, in a team we can do better.'
City's
bid for history appeared destined to be thwarted by their battling
hosts, with the game set to end in stalemate until substitute Jesus
coolly lobbed the ball over Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy with
virtually the last kick following a superb pass from Kevin De Bruyne.
Jesus scored in the fourth minute of added time to help City reach 100 Premier League points
The
goal - scored six years to the day since Sergio Aguero's memorable
title-winning strike against QPR - sparked mayhem among visiting players
and supporters at St Mary's.
As well
as their landmark points haul, formidable City also finished the
campaign with a record 106 goals scored and 32 victories.
Guardiola struggled to comprehend the feat while describing the late drama as a fitting finale to an extraordinary campaign.
'100 points, still I cannot believe it,' he said. '100 points is a massive achievement.
'During
the game we were focused and at the end an excellent pass from Kevin
and amazing finish from Gabriel made the difference and achieved that
record.
'100 points is a lot; 50 points at home, 50 points away so it means how stable, how good we were all the season.
'A
lot of goals, concede few, a lot of points, wins at home, wins away;
everything was perfect this season and finished the way we deserved to
finish.'
Instrumental to City's miserly
goals-against tally - they finished with a goal difference of +79 - was
goalkeeper Ederson, and the Brazilian signed a new contract extension
on Sunday evening to commit himself to the club until 2025.
The Brazilian's well-taken lob sparked raucous scenes in the away end at St Mary's Stadium
Hosts Southampton avoided an improbable relegation despite the narrow defeat.
Only
a 10-goal swing in goal difference could have sent them down and a loss
for rivals Swansea meant there was never any danger of that happening.
Saints
manager Mark Hughes, who was brought in with eight games remaining to
mastermind a great escape, heaped praise on his players.
'We
ended up losing a game that I thought we possibly should have won but
the bigger picture clearly was to make sure we got the job done,' said
the Welshman.
'People may say that I've done what I needed to do and well done Mark Hughes, but the credit all lies with the players.
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