Saka, Palmer among 8 to pull out of England squad​​

Ange Postecoglou has said he is happy Pep Guardiola signed a contract extension at Manchester City so he has a chance to “knock him off” the Premier League summit.

City confirmed on Thursday that Guardiola will stay at the club until 2027 after agreeing a new two-year deal.

Guardiola is seeking an unprecedented fifth consecutive league title but despite Tottenham‘s last silverware coming in 2008, Postecoglou has never hidden his ambition of returning Spurs to serious challengers for the game’s biggest prizes.

When asked in a news conference whether there was any part of him that wanted Guardiola to leave City after a period of sustained success, Postecoglou said: “I look at it the other way — ‘imagine you knock him off?’ That would be something, eh? And I’m at the stage of my life where I’d rather have a chance of knocking him off than missing that opportunity. In the right way, obviously.

“I think when greatness is around, you want to be around it. Hopefully it challenges you to be like that as well.

“I love the fact that there is a massive target out there that can seem insurmountable. It does for me anyway, raises my level, gets me going.

“I keep saying, I lived the experience of equalisation of sport in Australia and it is great from a competitive point of view because everybody believes they can win but after a while I used to get frustrated with it because excellence tends to be capped at a certain point. It is up to everyone else to bridge that gap.

“I love the challenge of that and I never see that as a bad thing.”

Postecoglou also insisted he had no concerns about the integrity of Premier League officiating despite recent revelations regarding referee David Coote.

The 42-year-old was suspended last week by referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited pending an investigation after footage emerged in which he appeared to make derogatory remarks about Liverpool and their former manager Jürgen Klopp.

“I’m not across the detail of it but firstly, he’s obviously made some poor decisions, made a big mistake,” Postecoglou said.

“He’s a human being so you worry about his welfare. I’m sure he’s getting good support around him. With our officials, rightly so, we hold them to the highest possible standard because of those things but I don’t think just because one person makes a mistake that necessary means … I’m not silly to think every official is perfect, like no manager is perfect or anyone else. We all make mistakes.

“I never lose faith in the officialdom because if you do then it is a very slippery slope. I’ve worked in a couple of leagues where that was always kind of the undertone and I hated it because you kind of questioned everything.

“I don’t want to do that. I believe the officials. I believe in the integrity of the officials. I’ll always abide by their decision-making and accept it.”

Harry Kane became the fastest player to reach 50 Bundesliga goals, eclipsing previous record-holder Erling Haaland, with a hat trick in Bayern Munich‘s 3-0 win over Augsburg on Friday.

The England striker netted all three goals in the second half, the first two from the penalty spot and the third with a fine touch and header deep into stoppage time, to bring up his half-century of goals in Germany‘s top division in just 43 games.

Haaland had managed 50 goals in 50 games for Borussia Dortmund prior to joining Manchester City.

“It was somehow typical Harry Kane,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. “It was close in the first half, close, close, close, and then it happens, I think three goals in 15 minutes. Of course, he can do that.

“But for such a player, I have to say, he had a lot of chances that he could maybe make more of. Then, in an instant, everything is perfect and he can score many goals.”

Kane scored 36 goals in 32 league appearances last season, his first for Bayern after joining from Tottenham. It was also the first season since 2012 that Bayern failed to win the title, as Bayer Leverkusen went undefeated to snap Bayern’s winning run.

As well as 14 league goals this season, Kane has scored five in the Champions League and one in the German Cup.

Friday’s win saw Bayern open up an eight-point gap at the top with their sixth straight clean sheet across all competitions.

The Bavarians, who take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, are undefeated in the Bundesliga and on 29 points following their fifth consecutive league game without conceding a goal.

Second-placed RB Leipzig, who travel to Hoffenheim on Saturday, are on 21 points.

“We said at half time we should just keep going and create chances,” Kane told reporters. “Thankfully we got the penalty and from there the game opened up.”

Bayern had possession and chances, but the visitors defended resolutely with Augsburg goalkeeper Nediljko Labrović denying Kane, then twice Jamal Musiala to keep the game scoreless at half-time.

Bayern counterpart Manuel Neuer, who overcame a rib injury to start, had little to do at the other end.

Musiala, Leon Goretzka and Michael Olise all went close after the break. Labrović and the Augsburg defence held on.

Then Mads Pedersen was penalised for handball following a VAR review and Kane duly broke the deadlock in the 63rd.

Bayern continued as before with 80% possession, but had to wait for Keven Schlotterbeck to be penalised through VAR for a foul on Kane.

Kane sealed the result in the third minute of stoppage time and there was still time for him to grab another.

It’s Bayern’s seventh consecutive win since Oct. 23 when they lost at Barcelona 4-1 in the Champions League.

“We have a big week ahead with PSG in the Champions League then Dortmund then Leverkusen in the Cup. We’re in a good moment, we’re feeling good and should just keep the momentum up,” Kane said.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.