Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has insisted that his team must improve following their 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Monday night.

City returned to the top of the Premier League table courtesy of their one-goal victory, with Riyad Mahrez scoring the only goal of the match in the first period.

Guardiola was not too pleased with his team's wastefulness in the second period, however, and the Spaniard has claimed that the Citizens might have been made to pay on another night.

"We missed a lot. You cannot expect against Tottenham to score a lot of goals, the pitch was complicated and we played against a physical team - with [Mousa] Dembele, [Davinson] Sanchez, [Toby] Alderweireld, [Eric] Dier - incredible physicality and the pitch was so complicated, it was so difficult," Guardiola told Sky Sports News.

"In the first 15-20 minutes of the second-half we should have the game over and the big events, like the Champions League, if we are not more clinical, sooner or later we are not going to win."

City will look to make it four straight wins in all competitions when they take on Fulham in the EFL Cup on Thursday night.