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Manchester City have recovered from a difficult start to the season and Pep Guardiola has liked a lot of what he has seen
Pep Guardiola has seen better body language from Manchester City players after a difficult start to the season.
The Blues won 4-0 at Wolves on the opening day but then suffered back-to-back defeats against Tottenham and Brighton that left little to cheer about heading into the September international break. Their four games since have seen three wins and a draw at Arsenal though, and three points in a 5-1 victory against Burnley brought them closer to Liverpool after the league leaders lost at Crystal Palace.
Erling Haaland grabbed two goals late on to add gloss to a scoreline that Burnley probably didn't deserve but City will take as they look to continue their momentum. Aside from results, Guardiola has taken plenty of positives from the performances where he has seen players digging in and battling together as a team.
"It's his job. Two goals, a cross from Josko and he made an assist for Matheus for 2-1," said Guardiola of Haaland.
"He is an incredibly important figure for us. He always has the feeling that he can score and I'm really pleased again for the performance for the team.
"Since the United game the team showed another way in their body language when they weren't playing good against Arsenal in how they defend and helped each other. That is the key for everything.
"Details can improve, in the second half Tijjani and Nico should move completely different than they were.
"We are creating a good team spirit, with the backroom staff and players. We finished with late goals."
Haaland now has 15 goals in nine games for club and country this season and is looking sharper as he looks to improve on a year where he scored 31 goals for City but felt he should have done better.
"For Erling, the numbers are insane," Guardiola said. "We joke but really it is incredible."
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