“Obviously” – Nathan Ake reveals Manchester City watched Arsenal on team coach and in dressing room | OneFootball

Nathan Ake has revealed that Pep Guardiola’s players watched Arsenal’s victory over Tottenham during their pre-match preparations on Sunday afternoon.

The Premier League champions went on to respond in the perfect way to Arsenal’s earlier success by ensuring that there would be no shock on the cards at the City Ground, defeating Nuno Espirito Santo’s side through a 0-2 scoreline.

Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland would score the goals to secure all three points either side of the half-time interval, although the contest as a whole was far from routine, with Forest creating numerous chances but squandering each one.

Arsenal would create problems for themselves eventually too, despite gaining a staggering 0-3 advantage against their North London rivals by the half-time interval. Manchester City’s players will have been all too aware of proceedings.

Speaking after Manchester City’s 0-2 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon, defender Nathan Ake revealed that he and his teammates watched the Arsenal contest against Tottenham during their pre-match build-up around The City Ground affair.

“Obviously you see it, you know,” Ake responded when quizzed on whether Manchester City were aware of Arsenal’s result from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “As I said, obviously it would be nice if they dropped some points.

“We focus on ourselves and it’s in our hands. That’s the only thing we can focus on. On the bus it was still on and then in the changing room. Sometimes people who don’t play watch the game.”

Ake continued, “Everyone has got their own preparation. For everyone it’s different. Obviously when we start we have to focus on our game and that’s the only thing it can be.”

Manchester City now have a rare week off from their hectic schedule that has increased in the last fortnight in particular, returning to duties in the Premier League next Saturday evening with a home tie against Wolves.

City know that should they win all of their remaining four matches in the English top-flight, then they will be crowned Premier League champions for an unprecedented fourth successive season – becoming the first side in the history of the competition to do just that.

An FA Cup final against city rivals Manchester United also awaits at the end of the domestic season, in what is a repeat of last season’s cup final that set Manchester City on their way to a UEFA Champions League final win over Inter one week later.