Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that the individual achievements of his players must be viewed in relation to the team’s success and consistency after Raheem Sterling’s brace sealed a 4-0 Premier League win over Watford on Tuesday.

City forward Sterling’s first-half goals took his league tally to 19 goals for the season, but Guardiola reminded his players that they were 15 points behind champions Liverpool having played one matchless.

“It’s important for Raheem to score goals but we cannot forget we finished a long way off the champions. This is not good for us,” Guardiola told reporters.

“Of course, we’ve been much better than the other 18 teams. The distance from second to first is big, the distance between second and third is big too, but it’s not enough.

“The personal achievements must always be related to the achievements of the team, which has not been perfect.”

The result meant that Guardiola’s side have won four league games in a row for the first time this season and the Spaniard said his team had to be more consistent to challenge for the title in the 2020-21 campaign.