Pep Guardiola says Manchester City still have “hope” in the Premier League title race despite seeing the gap at the top widen to six points after drawing 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur.

City were leading 2-0 at half-time after goals from Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo.

But they were pegged back in the second-half by a brace from Dominic Solanke and only escaped with a draw thanks to a string of saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Arsenal‘s lead at the top is now six points with City facing a daunting trip to Liverpool in their next Premier League fixture.

“As much as the chance is there the hopes will always be there,” said Guardiola. “It happens. I know that these types of games always in the past, there is a way to win and today it didn’t happen.

“We have difficulties for many things, but the players are coming back and I saw an incredibly good spirit with many things.”

Guardiola expressed his displeasure at a number of refereeing decisions in the last few weeks, and he was left frustrated again against Spurs.

Replays of Solanke’s first goal showed the striker kicked through the back of Marc Guéhi‘s leg during a scramble in the penalty area to force the ball over the line.

“If a central defender does it to a striker it’s a penalty,” said Guardiola. “The momentum in the Premier League when you concede a goal, it happens. You cannot control it.

“That will be our lesson and once again that will make us stronger and better, especially for many players in the future.”

The second half collapse at Spurs follows a worrying pattern for City, who also had spells on the back foot after half-time against both Wolves and Galatasaray.

Neither side were able to capitalise and City kept two clean sheets, but they weren’t able to hold off Spurs.

“You’re right,” said Guardiola when asked about the trend. “We talked. As a manager, you can change something in the second half. When you play really poor in the first half, you can make some substitutions if something didn’t work.

“They had two or three free kicks [in the first half] but the rest was good. We started the second half really well but it was the goal that changed a little bit.”