"This is a big win," Ilkay Gundogan emphasizes importance of Manchester City's victory against Everton
May 14, 2023
Anfield [United Kingdom], May 14 : Ilkay Gundogan emphasized the importance of the 3-0 victory against Everton in the Premier League as the Blues go four points clear at the top of the table.
This victory has added more meaning as Arsenal lost against Brighton by 3-0 on Sunday. However, at a personal level as City have struggled to produce result for the past three years at Goodison Park. If City suffered a loss or a draw the Premier League title race would have taken another turn.
"For the last three years, this place [Goodison Park] has always been very tough for us. Even more so now. We feel like this is a big win. We have a very experienced team. It's not really a new situation for us, competing for the last few games of the season with someone else," Gundogan said after the match as quoted by Manchester City.
"The margin for mistakes is very slim, we know that. I think that we were able to live these moments in the past helps us a lot."
Gundogan's individual brilliance proved to be a turning point in the entire match as he produced two moments of brilliance to hand City a two-goal advantage.
After the game, he shed some light on his thought process as he scored a goal by flicking the ball to find the back of the net with his foot and throughout this process, he barely had a look at the goal.
"I felt that I was free [first goal]. Both centre-backs were focused on Erling [Haaland]."
"I saw the space. The ball was a little bit behind my run. I had to adjust and somehow, I was able to take a touch, I tried my luck and it worked out perfectly," Gundogan concluded.
The three points put City in pole position to retain the Premier League title for a third consecutive season. The next game could be enough to seal the fate of the Premier League title.