Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has branded Sunday's success over West Ham United "a big victory".
City entered the interval 1-0 behind courtesy of a header from Angelo Ogbonna, but second-half goals from Nicolas Otamendi and David Silva secured all the points for the Premier League leaders.
The Citizens will take an eight-point lead into next weekend's Manchester derby at Old Trafford, and Guardiola called the 2-1 victory "massive" ahead of the clash with Manchester United.
"We started really well but we lost our patience. We didn't have any rhythm because Adrian was taking 30 seconds every time," Guardiola told BBC Sport.
"It was similar to the last few games, in the second half I thought we would score. It was massive. They played 10 players inside the box, it was almost impossible. It's a big victory. It showed what we are.
"You have to try to solve it [when teams pack the defence]. We had two strikers in the second half and that helped, it was a big lesson for me. We created more with two. The pace was better, we had more presence in the box. Kevin de Bruyne playing as the holding midfielder gave us the tempo. We were much, much better."
Table-topping City have now won their last 13 Premier League matches.
Matt Law
