Manchester City Still In Title Race With Fourteen Games To Go, Guardiola Says

Pep Guardiola called for composure from Manchester City after a 2-2 draw with Tottenham left the Premier League title race finely balanced, with City now six points behind leaders Arsenal and 14 league

fixtures still to come in a campaign that remains open.

City had been on course to trim Arsenal’s advantage to four points after Rayan Cherki and Antonie Semenyo struck before half-time, yet Dominic Solanke inspired a second-half response that denied Guardiola’s team victory and underlined the pressure around the title battle.

Guardiola highlighted the wider picture following the setback, stressing that the schedule still offers scope to respond across the remaining matches and that performance levels have generally stayed high, even if results like this draw show small lapses can prove costly against strong Premier League opponents.

Guardiola told Sky Sports: We are playing at a high level. We didn't have the consistency to win the games when others were able to do it 14 games isa lot of games. Six points [gap to Arsenal]. We go to the next [game].

The draw ended a striking run for Manchester City, with Opta data showing it was the first time since April 2018, against Manchester United, that City failed to win after leading by at least two goals at half-time, having previously finished victorious in 115 such situations across all competitions.

115 - Manchester City failed to win a match they led by 2+ goals in at half time for the first time since April 2018 (v Man Utd). Before today, they had won on each of the last 115 occasions when leading by 2+ goals at the break (all competitions). Stunner. pic.twitter.com/cOYExBNLG7OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 1, 2026

Controversy surrounded Tottenham’s first goal, with a VAR review ruling that Solanke’s challenge on Marc Guehi was legal before Solanke’s scorpion kick completed the comeback, and Guardiola expressed frustration with that decision while also acknowledging that the final call rested with the officials in charge.

Well, if you do it to a striker,it would be a penalty, Guardiola told BBC Radio 5 Live. I'm not a referee. [It's] fascinating in the Premier League.

Semenyo’s composed finish shortly before the interval had earlier given Manchester City control, continuing an impressive start since joining the club, with the winger registering goals in four of five appearances in all competitions and matching Emmanuel Adebayor’s 2009 record for scoring in at least four of a first five Premier League games for City.

They started to pick up momentum, creating chances and we started sinking deep, Semenyo told BBC Sport. The way we set up was to draw them out a little bit. It worked perfectly in the first half. I had another chance before my goal. I am kicking myself but we have to go again. Definitely [winning] would have helped our cause but it is not over yet, there are 14 games to go so anything can happen.

The result keeps Manchester City within reach of Arsenal while showing areas to refine, as Guardiola’s side seek greater consistency to turn strong spells into wins, and with 14 matches left, including key tests against rivals, every point gained or dropped is likely to have increased significance in the title race.