John Stones praises Manchester City response to recent Pep Guardiola demands | OneFootball

John Stones has heaped praise on how Manchester City responded to demands set out by manager Pep Guardiola in Sunday’s win over Wolves at the Etihad Stadium.

Erling Haaland scored his fourth Manchester City hat-trick on Sunday, as the Premier League champions consolidated Thursday’s win over Tottenham with a 3-0 win against Wolves.

After suffering successive losses, an exasperated Guardiola pleaded with his players and supporters following the 4-2 comeback win over Spurs.

The Catalan will have welcomed his sides response on Sunday, as the Blues eased past Wolves, courtesy of three goals from Haaland.

The Norwegian opened the scoring late in the first half with a leaping header before netting twice in the second half to secure another key victory.

Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez and Ilkay Gundogan all had opportunities to add to City’s lead while the 3-0 win also marked just a second clean sheet in the league since late October.

Post-match, John Stones praised the Blues’ performance and the response to Guardiola’s recent criticism.

“I think how it finished was bittersweet really, and we definitely wanted to put it right today and get off on the right foot,” said the England international.

“I mentioned before about us setting such a high bar over the seasons and trying to get close to that or higher than that every game is difficult, and you’re going to have these times, but it’s about us looking at ourselves and looking at where we can improve and put things right for the next game that’s in hand.

“I thought we did that today, we were patient, we didn’t get frustrated when things weren’t coming off or chances weren’t being created, and recycling the ball. I thought we did that so well, and that paid off in the end with us scoring three goals, nearly four, and a clean sheet which is massive for us.”

Stones, who recently returned from injury, also believes that the Sky Blues used this weekend’s win over Wolves as an opportunity to ‘correct’ recent problems.

“I know obviously what he said to us at half-time, what he said to us, he wasn’t pleased with us and rightly so.

“I thought, us as players, you know yourselves when you’re not playing well, or playing as well as you should be, or doing the right things.

“We all needed that and I think definitely we just had to put that right today, and we did. But it’s about correcting that for today, and moving forward as well.”