Guardiola brushes off scrappy win over Leeds

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola does not believe last weekend’s Premier League win over relegation-threatened Leeds United indicates a change of mentality at the club, as he prepares for the trip to in-form Fulham on Tuesday.

City suffered back-to-back losses, at Newcastle United in the English top flight and to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, before beating 18th-placed Leeds 3-2 at home thanks to Phil Foden’s late winner to go second in the table.

“It all depends if Phil puts the ball in the net. I don’t know if you can define mentality off one win. I don’t believe in these kind of things,” Guardiola told reporters on Monday.

Guardiola, who has led City to six league titles, praised Fulham manager Marco Silva, whose team won 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

“Marco is many, many years there. Always have been really tough games. Difficult. Their organisation is exceptional. Every year, I have a feeling that with the ball they are better and even better,” Guardiola said.

“I saw their games these days… against Chelsea, against Arsenal, last games against Sunderland. It’s always so difficult for the opponent to break up.”

Midfielder Rodri, who has been out with a hamstring injury since early last month, is still not fit to play.