Guardiola dismisses suggestion of Man City frustration after taking top spot

Pep Guardiola denied he was frustrated by Manchester City's performance as a surprisingly tense 1-0 win over Burnley took his side top of the Premier League.

Victory was all that was required to move City ahead of Arsenal – and in turn relegate hosts Burnley – and Guardiola's men got it through Erling Haaland's fifth-minute strike.

But the narrow win means City lead the league only on goals scored, and they passed up plenty of opportunities to add to their lead, registering 28 shots worth a combined 3.54 expected goals (xG).

Rayan Cherki and Haaland each hit the post, while Nico O'Reilly was especially wasteful, with Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in inspired form as he made eight saves.

Guardiola appeared increasingly irate on the touchline, yet he dismissed suggestions he had been upset by a display that dipped below the standards set in Sunday's mammoth win over Arsenal.

"The chances were there, we created a lot and made a fantastic game," Guardiola told Sky Sports. "We did everything after a demanding game three days ago.

"It was demanding, always it is not easy, but we played a really good game where we missed some goals.

"There's no frustration. Why should there be frustration? We won three points, now we are top of the league. That frustration doesn't exist.

"Of course, we can do better and score goals, but the guys did absolutely everything. We were brilliant at many things, we just didn't score.

"Everything is difficult, nothing is [taken] for granted. We were there and we did it really well."

City had not been top of the table since the first week of the season in August, yet they have never failed to win the Premier League after leading the way with five matches or fewer of the season remaining.

Kyle Walker was a part of many of those successes, but he experienced a very different emotion when facing his former side on Wednesday as Burnley were relegated.

The ex-City captain said: "I came here with a dream to keep this club up. Hopefully we can do the fans proud next season."

Burnley have now been relegated from the Premier League for the fifth time. Only Norwich City (six) have ever dropped out of the competition more often.

The Clarets have also lost four consecutive Premier League games for the second time this season (a run of seven between November and December), losing their 22nd match of the campaign.

Having lost 24 games in both 2023-24 and 2009-10, only West Bromwich Albion have lost 22+ games in more Premier League seasons (four).