Pep Guardiola: Man City display against Tottenham 'better than any last season'

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says the display in Saturday's 3-0 friendly win over Tottenham was better than any his side produced last season.

"OK, it is pre-season, but we didn't have a performance last season of that quality and intensity," Guardiola said.

City beat Real Madrid and lost to Manchester United in their other two International Champions Cup games.

Spurs' only win in the competition came against Paris St-Germain, with Saturday's defeat adding to a loss against Roma.

"They have invested more money than us and you can see we have a lot of young players on the bench," said Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, who is yet to add to his squad this summer.

"We are a little bit behind but we are working hard to try to sign players that will help us, bring us some new energy and make our team more competitive."

Spurs fell behind when Stones nodded in Kevin de Bruyne's deflected free-kick after 10 minutes in Nashville, USA.

Gabriel Jesus missed an open goal and Sergio Aguero twice hit the post, before City increased their lead with 17 minutes remaining when Sterling scampered clear to slide a low shot past Michel Vorm.

Spanish 17-year-old Diaz added a third in stoppage time after two shots had been blocked.

Ederson creates 'more space in the middle'

One feature of City's performance was the display of goalkeeper Ederson, who arrived from Benfica for £35m in June.

The Brazilian looked uncomfortable on his debut against Manchester United, but excelled against Real and made a series of fine saves against Spurs.

Furthermore, his ability to send goal-kicks into the opposition penalty area also caught the eye of former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola.

"When I was at Bayern, I played a Champions League game against Benfica and we saw it four or five times," said the Spaniard.

"You cannot be offside so it creates a chance and we can have more space in the middle."

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'Unbelievable Nasri has a decision to take'

Guardiola has signed six players already this summer and further changes to his squad are expected before the 31 August transfer deadline.

He remains interested in Monaco's 18-year-old France striker Kylian Mbappe and Arsenal and Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, and he also wants another central defender.

Players will leave, too. Strikers Wilfried Bony and Kelechi Iheanacho have both been left at home in anticipation of moves, with Guardiola confirming he expects the latter to join Leicester.

Midfielder Samir Nasri impressed against Tottenham, with his manager praising the 30-year-old's "unbelievable ability" and "special quality" - but the former France international's future still remains unclear.

"He knows the situation, we have a lot of midfielders. That's a decision he has to take with his agent," said Guardiola when asked about the former Arsenal playmaker's chances of staying.