LONDON – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hailed the
influence of captain Vincent Kompany after the Belgian kept the
destination of the Premier League title in their own hands with a
stunning goal in his side's 1-0 win over Leicester on Monday.
Kompany fired in an unstoppable shot from around 25 yards to leave
City one point clear of Liverpool going into the final day of the
season.
"Kompany has been here more than 10 years and he has helped with an
incredible generation of players," Guardiola said.
"With other players like (Joe) Hart and (Pablo) Zabaleta, they
created this club. Vincent when he stepped forward in the big
moments. When he is fit is an incredible player."
Guardiola said he had been thinking Kompany should not shoot when he
strolled forward with 20 minutes to go.
But the defender rifled the ball into the top corner to win it for
champions City and keep them in charge.
"An extraordinary goal, definitely," he said.
The defending champions City play at Brighton on Sunday while
Liverpool host Wolves and Guardiola said there was still work to do.
"One game left it will be so tough like today, we are away and we saw
Brighton had a good game at Arsenal," he said.
"But it is in our hands, don't forget but we could have been 10
points behind if we lost to Liverpool here," he added in reference to
a crucial 2-1 victory in January.
"We were seven points behind, but we are in the last game and it is
in our hands. We are going to prepare well."