Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, gave his players a dressing down during their 3-0 win at Huddersfield last weekend.
City narrowed the gap on Liverpool to four points after taking inspiration from Guardiola's emotional outburst at half-time.
The Spaniard told his players to wake up when they led 1-0 after a scrappy first half and they responded by scoring two quickfire goals to seal a fourth straight Premier League win.
Leroy Sane, who scored the third, was reported by UK Mirror as saying: "The boss said at half-time that we can't play the way we were playing and that we had to get better.
"They were putting us under some pressure too. We know in the Premier League that a goal can come out of nowhere and at 1-1 it would be difficult to get the win.
"So he woke us up a bit to play our game quicker and better and help us find where the space is.
"The second half everyone could definitely see we were quicker and better, and in important positions. We controlled the game. It is easier when you can play like that and you can push forward more."
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