New Club World Cup champions Manchester City returned to domestic action with a 3-1 victory over Everton on Wednesday night and coach Pep Guardiola says that success in Saudi Arabia allowed them to refocus.

Goals from Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez (a hotly disputed penalty) and Bernardo Silva handed City the win after Jack Harrison had given Everton a halftime lead.
The win moves Guardiola’s side to within five points of leaders Liverpool with a game in hand.

“I remember on the plane coming back from Saudi Arabia, I listened to the players when they didn’t know I was listening, and they started to talk about Everton,” Guardiola said. “I said ‘wow, this is my team’. I have the feeling they still want to try.

“We play many games this season and people say we are not the same. We have lost one of the last 13 (excluding the Club World Cup). We don’t talk enough about how good we are.”

The win against Everton came at a cost with defender John Stones forced off due to an injury.

“It doesn’t look good, but we will see. It’s his ankle,” Guardiola told Amazon Prime.

City were without leading scorer Erling Haaland and playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, but both could be back soon.

“He (Haaland) feels better, but he hasn’t made one training session with us,” Guardiola said. “Hopefully, in January, he can come back with us.

“Kevin is close … we have to be careful. If you don’t handle the timings good, you can get injured again.”

In other results on Wednesday, Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 and Wolves thumped Brentford 4-1.