Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted that the Citizens can improve on their performance despite securing a comfortable 4-0 triumph over West Ham United on the road. The Citizens had gone into the international break with a two-point advantage over second-placed Liverpool and they managed to maintain the lead after picking up maximum points at the London Stadium.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola highlighted that he was delighted with the outcome but stressed that the team were rather lucky that the Hammers could not find the scoresheet with the chances they had. Meanwhile, the Catalan tactician also happened to make a name check on the disappointing performances for Real Madrid and Manchester United on the same match day and suggested that there is room for improvement for his team.

He said: “Well, we are delighted with the win. After international break, you can easily drop points, but the players came back at the same level and that’s why I am so satisfied for the victory, even though the performance could have been better. If you see the results after international break, it’s good.

“We saw result for Madrid (beaten by Eibar) and United (held 0-0 by Palace). We give a lot of credit for victory, but it was not the best performance and we were a little lucky today. We arrived a few times and scored, whereas West Ham did the same many times and didn’t score – but I am sure we will be back soon to where we normally are.”

With the Hammers triumph, Guardiola’s team continue to hold the lead at the top of the standings and their focus will now shift towards their Champions League group stage game at Lyon. The Citizens are already pretty much through to the knockouts after picking up three successive victories but they should be keen on putting up a strong showing at the Groupama Stadium after the French outfit registered a shock 2-1 win against them in Manchester earlier in September.