Given the way Manchester City celebrated their 2-0 win at Bournemouth, their fans could be forgiven for thinking that this was a potentially huge moment in the title race.
Pep Guardiola’s side have won their last three league games in a row and are now looking like the most likely side to catch Chelsea, if anyone still can, sitting eight points behind the Blues.
However, despite his reaction at the final whistle, the manager is remaining downbeat on their chances.
“The gap is still so long, so you do not expect them [Chelsea] to lose games and it is so, so difficult to win all the games,” he told Sky Sports.
“So the gap is too, too big. Yesterday they did not win, but they played so solid, so it is so difficult to create chances.”
Chelsea did indeed drop points at Burnley, with Diego Costa again coming under fire for another disappointing performance.
As for City, though, they proved at the Vitality Stadium that they have the strength-in-depth to match Chelsea, bringing on the likes of Sergio Aguero – who scored the second goal – and Nolito.
That could well prove an advantage over top-four rivals Tottenham and Liverpool, both of whom seem to be lacking a strong bench.
If the title is still off the agenda for now, City should still be aiming to be the best of the rest, which is quite the achievement given where they’ve come from this season.
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