Pep Guardiola has confessed he was not surprised to see Harry Kane make the decisive impact as Tottenham saw off Manchester City 3-2 at the Etihad on Saturday.
In the build-up to the game, Guardiola revealed that City failed with no fewer than four attempts to sign Kane last summer following his request to leave Spurs, but their final bid - worth around £130m - was not enough to get the deal done.
In utterly predictable fashion, Kane would go on to produce perhaps his finest performance of the season, netting twice for Spurs and blowing the title race wide open again.
After the match, Guardiola insisted the performance had not left him regretting the chance to sign Kane.
"It never was an option and everyone knows this so forget [it]," he said of a summer transfer. "It's in the past.
"It's not necessary for him to show today the goals he scored and his quality with the ball. Everyone knows it."
Guardiola continued: "Well it was a good game. We tried through many sides, especially down the left. It is very difficult, they defend so narrow. Tottenham have a lot of quality, they give the ball to Harry Kane. They are really good up front.
"In the first half they have the goal and no more. In the second half they have one attack with Harry Kane at the start and they score. We try to score but we conceded the goal in extra-time."
City will look to sign a new striker at the end of the current season and will undoubtedly be linked with Kane, whose contract at Spurs will have just two years to run at that point.
Source : 90min