Pep Guardiola says Manchester City played "incredibly well" despite needing a penalty to beat West Ham 1-0 on Wednesday.
City made it 16 wins in their last 17 home games in all competitions but they made heavy work of defeating Manuel Pellegrini's side on the Chilean's first return as an opposition manager to the Etihad Stadium.
Sergio Aguero's 59th-minute penalty was enough to ensure City remain just a point adrift of leaders Liverpool, who defeated Watford 5-0 at Anfield.
Guardiola said: "They made us work hard for the result but we played incredibly well. We created a lot of chances, so it's amazing to understand how it was just 1-0 and in the last minute, anything can happen.
"In the first five minutes, it could've been 2-0 easily. The longer it stays at 0-0 or 1-0 the more impatient you become but in general we defended so well.
"With the long balls to Carroll and to Antonio we applied ourselves very well and created a lot of chances. Unfortunately, we couldn't score more goals, after the 120 minutes against Chelsea, the team showed incredible spirit and we made a really good performance."
City have won each of their last seven games against West Ham in all competitions, scoring 23 goals while conceding just three.
But the side were understandably below-par following 120 minutes in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday against Chelsea, although Guardiola did make five changes to his starting line-up.
City played well in patches, their first hot spell coming in a whirlwind start. Kevin De Bruyne fired narrowly wide in the first minute and Riyad Mahrez volleyed over. David Silva then hit a post at the end of a slick move involving De Bruyne, who then sent another effort off-target. Angelo Ogbonna then blocked another attempt from Mahrez.
Samir Nasri was withdrawn at the interval and his replacement Manuel Lanzini, looking far livelier, immediately created a chance for Andy Carroll, who was denied brilliantly by Ederson.
"[Ederson] made an incredible save but you have to count the saves from our opponent, too," Guardiola added.
"I'd be happy to finish every game with just one shot on target for our opponents. We created a lot but our last pass let us down.
"It's about winning games, but you have to do something to win games - not just sitting on the bench. You have to do something, and we did it again. We are into the last 10 games. They're not critical, there's still a lot to play in a lot of competitions.
"It's game-by-game now. We recover and play in another three days in Bournemouth. We accept the challenge and it's important to be there until the end after being champions last season."