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NEWCASTLE -- Pep Guardiola was happy with Manchester City's performance despite them almost blowing a 1-0 lead in a "complicated" finish against Newcastle United in a game they had dominated for 80 minutes. City extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to 15 points and their record-breaking winning streak reached 18 games thanks to Raheem Sterling's 31st minute strike. But despite having 72 percent possession and 21 shots -- including three efforts that hit the woodwork -- Newcastle almost stole a point when Dwight Gayle went close with a header in the dying minutes while he was rightly booked for a dive with home fans looking for a penalty. "We created chances. At half-time it could have been three or four," Guardiola told a news conference. "It's okay. When you're winning 18 games in a row, you have 10-15 minutes in that way but we are so happy. "It's not easy when Newcastle don't want to play. They defend well and want to counter-attack and defend deep. It's not easy. "We created chances in the first half and the beginning of the second. In the last minutes -- it was a little more complicated." And Guardiola was also proud of his team for beating teams playing a number of different styles during their streak, from the defensive approach of Newcastle to the attacking mindset of Tottenham. "As a manager, I have to adapt my team to convince them. In these 18 games, we have played against teams who have done high pressing, low pressing, counter-attacks, just set pieces, just like Tottenham who tried to go forward and attack, and in all of them, we have been able to beat them. "The magnificent thing about football and any manager of any team is they can play any way. Teams can try to trick you, but you have to be able to beat them and until now we have been able to do that. "Until now, we have found a way to win.'' The biggest blow of the night was the loss of captain Vincent Kompany after just 10 minutes with what appeared to be another calf strain. Such was City's dominance -- even in those early stages that Guardiola replaced him striker Gabriel Jesus -- while substitute defender Eliaquim Mangala remained on the bench. City have been linked a January move for a new centre-back but the Catalan simply said "no" when asked if they had any interest in Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk, who is set to complete a £75m move to Liverpool in January. "I don't know about [Kompany's injury] and I don't know what going to happen [in January]," Guardiola added. "Unfortunately he was injured again like the last three years. And we are going to see how long it takes for him to recover." And match-winner Sterling also hailed his teammates' relentless approach to all their opponents regardless of position in the table. Sterling said: "It was a great team performance today. "I thought they {Newcastle] soaked up the pressure really well and counter-attacked a few times. We put pressure on ourselves at times and didn't make it easy. "But we dug in and that shows the team spirit, we stayed together and calm and got the win.'' The England winger's chance was created by Kevin De Bruyne, and Sterling said: "We've got quite a few players who can find a pass... you've just got to make the run and nine out of 10 times they'll find you.'' Teammate Bernardo Silva added: "We knew it would be a tough game. "I think we played well in the first half. It's not easy to play against 11 players behind the ball. but I think we handled it and could have had many more goals. "When you win 18 games in a row you have to expect teams to do whatever they can to try and stop you. "The last 10 minutes were very tough, keeping the advantage for another three points. We're so happy.'' Asked if he thought the title was wrapped up, the Portuguese midfielder added: "We have to keep working the same way since the start of the season and that's what we'll be doing. "It isn't won. We're still in December. We have to play with the same spirit and hunger to win the games.'' Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez defended his team's ultra-defensive approach, which almost earned them a point. "I think we knew it was a difficult game, and we needed to work really hard to get something. It was a pity we conceded and I thought we could have done better," he said. "In the last 20 minutes we did what we were expecting. We were on top of them and tried to press high. "We have seen a lot of games where teams were pressing high and still City scored four goals, so it was a question of staying in the game until the end." Information from Press Association Sport was used in this story.
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