Pep Guardiola rules Manchester City out of title race

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 15 January 2017

Guardiola rules Man City out of title race

Pep Guardiola admits that his first season in the Premier League will now likely end without him lifting the title, as his side trail leaders Chelsea by 10 points.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has conceded that his side are no longer in the race for the Premier League title following their heavy 4-0 loss to Everton.

The Citizens' fifth top-flight defeat of the season - the heaviest suffered by Guardiola during his domestic coaching career - leaves them 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.

City alarmingly collapsed in the final quarter of the match and now find themselves outside the top four, which the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss admits has left his side chasing shadows in terms of their title aspirations.

Asked if the gap to the top was now too big to make up, he told reporters: "By the first [team]? Yes. Ten points is a lot of points. The second one is three points. We have to see.

"I spoke with my players in the last three weeks or more and said, 'Forget about the table, focus on the next game and try to do our best to win'.

"After that, at the end of the season, we our going to evaluate our level and how our performance was, how the coach was, how the players were. After that we are going to decide."

City, who conceded from all four shots on target at Goodison Park, return to action next weekend with a home match against second-placed Tottenham Hotspur.