LIVERPOOL -- Pep Guardiola has effectively ruled Manchester City out of the Premier League title race following their 4-0 defeat to Everton on Sunday.
The City boss suffered the biggest ever league defeat of his career to leave his side 10 points behind leaders Chelsea in fifth place.
Guardiola believes it will be too tough to overtake Antonio Conte's side and says trying to catch second-placed Tottenham Hotspur -- next week's opponents -- is a more realistic target.
Asked if City's title challenge was over, Guardiola told a news conference: "By the first one? Yeah. Ten points is a lot of points. The second one [Tottenham] is three points. We have to see.
"I spoke to my players the last three weeks or a month, forget about the table. Focus on the next game and try to do our best to win the games and after that at the end of the season we are going to evaluate how our level and performance was -- how was the coach, how was the players and after we are going to decide."
Guardiola felt that City were the better side in the first half on Sunday until Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring with Everton's first shot of the game in the 34th minute.
Kevin Mirallas doubled the Toffees' lead shortly after the restart before late goals from Tom Davies and debutant Ademola Lookman made it an emphatic score line.
"In the first half we were exceptional in my point of view. We created enough chances to score," Guardiola said. "It has happened a lot of times. The opponent scores the first time and scores when we miss a lot. The second half they arrived a second time and scored a second goal.
"It's tough mentally for everybody but especially for the players. I know how difficult it is to try to play in that way, to have eight or nine players there and for the counterattack for the strikers.
"We try to create chances and we have created lots of chances -- except maybe Crystal Palace or Burnley -- and the opponents create few but we are not good in the boxes and that is why that is the situation today. You go more with the heart and not with the head and you are hit on the counter."
But Guardiola insisted he will not change his game plan and will continue with his tactics of trying to keep the ball -- with City having 71 percent possession at Goodison Park.
"I'm so happy in Manchester. Of course, I prefer to win than to lose but I'm so happy," he added. "The way I will try to do it until my last day is the best way possible to achieve what I think is the best way to play.
"When you win at Crystal Palace and Burnley of course you are so happy but we are not going to get too far [playing] in that way. We were not able to make three or four passes in a row. We were absolutely lucky in those games.
"When you see the games against West Ham and even today we had the control of the game. And when you have control of the game you need to create more."