Pep Guardiola felt vindicated for playing the ‘Barcelona way’ after Manchester City moved 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League with victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Though both goals in a 2-1 win came from set pieces, City dominated Manchester United in a top-of-the-table derby.
And the Spaniard was effusive in his praise of his players for proving his style of play could translate to English football after the success he enjoyed in his homeland and at Bayern Munich.
‘The personality to play here is what I want. We can play this way in England’, he told Sky Sports after the game.
‘People said we couldn’t play the way we did in Barcelona in England but it is possible and we did it.
‘I knew that last season. Always I believed we could do it. Everyone can play how they want, that’s why football is so beautiful.
‘I’m happy to go to Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford and to beat them in this way.’
A second-half winner from Nicolas Otamendi gave City all three points after Marcus Rashford had cancelled out David Silva’s opener.
Guardiola has now seen his side equal Arsenal’s 14-match winning streak after only dropping points in a 1-1 draw with Everton back in August.
He added: ‘Football is incredible. We spoke about how to play United but never set-pieces offensively, and then we score two. Football is unpredictable.
‘This win means a lot in the way we played for our confidence but in three days we go to Swansea in the winter time. We are going to face a lot of difficulties. In December it’s impossible to be champions but it’s good for us.’
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