Pep Guardiola was pleased with his sides 3-1 win over Watford on Tuesday night despite a poor spell where they could have allowed the visitors back into the game.
Manchester City cruised to victory thanks to goals from Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Sergio Aguero despite a late strike from Hornets forward Andre Gray.
Ever the perfectionist, Guardiola was happy - to a point - with what he had seen from his side.
Speaking to the press following the game, the City boss said: “It was the first time we dropped points in 18 games and the reaction you saw, everyone saw. It was an amazing performance except for 15 minutes in the first-half when we were not good enough.
“We lost simple balls. They (Watford) created two or three chances but we could have scored more.”
De Bruyne proved he could play
There had been fears that Kevin De Bruyne would be sidelined for a couple of weeks following Jason Puncheon’s horror tackle on Sunday when City drew with Crystal Palace.
The Belgian playmaker had to be stretchered off late in the game and looked set to miss a considerable amount of time.
“He (De Bruyne) played because he proved it. He went out on to the pitch and proved it,” Guardiola said. “He said ‘I want to play, I want to play’ so he played. If he wants to play, I want him to play."
Guardiola added: “Everybody knows about his quality but he knows we will take a step forward with a win, become champion. He has the quality and the desire. Everybody is going to follow him - with his desire - because they want to win more.”
Transfer plans and competition priority
Manchester City may have one of the deepest and best squads in the Premier League but Guardiola is keen to add a player or two to his squad due to the number of fixtures they face in the coming weeks.
“I will think about it, mostly about the competitions because you can’t play with the players every three days,” the City boss said.
“Now we are going to face the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup and we have to rotate the squad. Obviously, the Premier League is our priority.”