Guardiola: Win over Fulham ideal way to celebrate 700th game

 Pep Guardiola said victory over Fulham was the perfect way to celebrate 250 games in charge of Manchester City and 700 overall in management.

The Spaniard's glittering career in has seen him ply his coaching trade in three countries, winning top-flight titles in Spain, Germany and England.

His pursuit of a third Premier League continued with a 2-0 win over Fulham, thanks to a goal from Raheem Sterling and a Kevin De Bruyne penalty.

In his 700 matches to date, Guardiola has tasted victory 507 times and lost just 82 of those, leaving him with a superb win percentage of 72.4.

"Well, important first, of course, is being in the present – the present is the victory, of course," he told City's website.

"You know, my 250 games here at the same time with 700 games I share it with Barcelona people who were there, with Bayern Munich.

"There's a lot of games, a lot of victories, a lot of titles, just, 82 defeats with 700 games when I realised it – wow, how good it was this period together with these three amazing clubs?

"Happy to do this 250 with this club and more to come. So hopefully we can have success in the next period.

"Of course, the rates are good, so a lot of games 700, to have rated more than 70 per pecent victories. So it's really good."

Guardiola praised midfielder Ilkay Gundogan for the way in which he asserted his influence over the game, but warned him not to lose focus with his passing.

Gundogan made 116 passes – more than any other City player – with 89.7 per cent successfully completed.

"Ilkay is incredibly important for us. He has personality," Guardiola added

"Defensively he was good. He lost simple balls and he has to avoid that. But Ilkay is an exceptional player in all situations. He can play more upfront and as a defensive midfielder.

"Overall our finishing was wasteful. We know we have to improve this, but it's important to keep creating the chances.

"In the last 20 minutes we lost too many simple balls, which is a problem. We have to do the simple things better. That is the next step."