I CAN NEVER LET MY GRAND DOWN

Pep on the defensive after Etihad ref rant

- BY SIMON BAJKOWSKI

IT IS a time of year that Pep Guardiola teams are known to start applying pressure.

Size up the opposition, get on a roll, pick up win after win.

If leading from the front, show no weakness. If coming from behind, make the heat unbearable for whoever they are chasing down.

But as February sharpens into view this weekend, Guardiola finds his Manchester City chasing on not one but two fronts.

Arsenal's slip up against Manchester United was a welcome gift to help City narrow the gap to the Gunners, sitting top of the Premier League pile, where they have been most of the season.

And in the Champions League, following a sobering defeat last week in Norway, City go into matchday eight needing a win or facing the prospect of adding a two-legged play-off to their season to make it to the last 16.