Pep Guardiola tells Man City stars to enjoy life with 'a lot of caipirinhas and daiquiris' after closing gap on Arsenal

Two goals from Nico O'Reilly saw Manchester City take all three points off Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium and take full advantage of Arsenal's midweek slip-up against Wolves. Just two points now separate the sides at the top of the table ahead of Sunday's north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

O'Reilly highlighted the magnitude of the victory after the game, telling TNT Sports: "I'm over the moon with tonight. The win was the most important thing to close the gap and apply as much pressure as possible. Also, very happy with the two goals. It's a dream of mine to win something like this. There's still a lot of games to go. We need to take each game as it comes. I'm enjoying every moment and taking it all in. We always believe we can win games. We had a week break, so we were able to prepare for this game very well. We just need to keep going."

Guardiola was also in jubilant mood after the game, telling reporters: “It was massive. Newcastle are an incredible team. That game today is what we are going to face in the next 11. Every game will be like that, a battle. Now we have three days off. I say to them ‘what you have to do is take a lot of caipirinhas and daiquiris in these next three days, enjoy life’, and then we make proper sessions and go to Leeds. 

"That is the proper way. If we say ‘we win this, then Arsenal do this or Aston Villa’… (you get a) slap in the face and what you thought (would happen), the opposite happens. I know how difficult it will be. Just win the next game, keep going, never give up. Ten games is a lot in the Premier League. Many things are going to happen.”

Arsenal will now aim to respond as they face Tottenham in a crunch game. Spurs head into the match under new management after sacking Thomas Frank and replacing him with Igor Tudor on an interim basis. Yet the Gunners have only won two of their last seven Premier League games, leading Arteta to face accusations ahead of kick-off that his team are "bottlers." 

The Spaniard was quick to respond, saying: "That's individual opinion, and you have to respect that. You lose two points against Wolves in the manner that the game played out, and you have to take it on the chin. That's it. It's part of our role. But it's not part of my vocabulary and I don't see it like this because I don't think anybody wants to do that as an intention. I wouldn't use that word."

All eyes will be on north London on Sunday to see if Arsenal can make it a miserable afternoon for Tudor as he takes charge of Spurs for the first time. After that, Arsenal go on to play Chelsea in the Premier League, while Manchester City head to Leeds.