Pep Guardiola praised the attitude of his team after Manchester City opened the new year with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Everton.

Gabriel Jesus scored both goals in the space of seven second-half minutes at the Etihad Stadium but what could have been a comfortable win became tense after Claudio Bravo gifted Everton a reply.

City boss Guardiola was pleased that the Premier League champions, whose title defence looks over after falling well behind Liverpool, overcame fatigue to dig in to get a result in their third game in six days.

Asked how his team played, Guardiola said: “Really well. We played top. I’m so delighted about the performance and behaviour as always.

“Being far away from first position after being champions for the previous two seasons, teams in normal situations give up and can finish seventh or eighth in the table.

“Maybe we are going to finish seventh or eighth in the table but not because we don’t try. We played so good.”