Pep Guardiola said Manchester City’s impressive win at Everton, five days after winning the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia, underlined their single-minded determination to defend the Premier League title following an inconsistent end to 2023. City recorded only a second win in seven league games after coming from behind to win for the eighth successive season at Goodison Park. Phil Foden, Julián Álvarez and Bernardo Silva were on target as the champions restarted their title defence with an important victory. “It was a massive game for us, coming back from Saudi Arabia as world champions,” said the City manager. “It proved again how special this group of players is and the mentality that we have in our bones. We want to be there. I know we are not top of the league, but a lot of things are going to happen. There will be a lot of surprises and the thing is to be there.” Guardiola added: “I remember on the plane coming back from Saudi Arabia and we were world champions and I listened to the players talking. They didn’t know I was listening and they started to talk about Everton. I said: ‘Wow, this is my team’. I have the feeling they still want to try. We play many games this season and people say we are not the same. “We have lost one of the last 12 or 13. Aston Villa were miles better but in the rest we were better. We don’t talk enough about how good we are.” City lost John Stones to a potentially serious ankle injury while Guardiola admitted Erling Haaland is still some way off returning from a foot problem. The City manager said of his leading goalscorer: “He’s training alone and getting better but not with the team yet. “Kevin [De Bruyne] is training with the team. Kevin is close but he had fatigue yesterday and we have to be careful. I’d love for him to play the next game or Huddersfield [in the FA Cup] but what is important is keeping him fit for a long time, not for one game or another.”