NEWCASTLE, England -- Pep Guardiola refused to give up on the Premier League title race despite potentially losing further ground on leaders Liverpool following their shock 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United.
Liverpool can move seven points clear at the top of the table with a win over Leicester City on Wednesday night, but the Manchester City boss insists there is still a long way to go in the title race.
"We are in January and there's a lot of time," Guardiola told a news conference. "But of course when you are behind the leader you cannot afford to drop points because you helped them.
"Every game is one less, but we are in January and we have lots of trophies and a lot of games to play."
City made the perfect start when Sergio Aguero fired them ahead after just 24 seconds.
But Guardiola admitted his side were far from their best and Newcastle snatched a win with their only two shots on target -- a Salomon Rondon overhead kick and Matt Ritchie's penalty after Fernandinho was caught in possession.
"It was not our best night. We got a goal by doing nothing exceptional because it was 24 seconds," he said.
"But it didn't help us to be calm to know exactly what to do and have courage. We were lacking a little bit of what we normally are.
"We are not at the top and that can sometimes happen, I can understand the players so congratulations to Newcastle."
City controversially had a goal ruled out when they led 1-0. Kevin De Bruyne's quick free kick was turned in by Aguero. But referee Paul Tierney ruled it out for being taken too early and booked the Belgian midfielder.
"It's my third season here and normally I'm not a guy who judges episodes and says we won for that reason or we lost for that reason, it would be poor," Guardiola added.
"We lost. I don't know if the referee said something to Kevin to say after the whistle or not. I don't know. I didn't speak with Kevin about that."