Erling Haaland's hat-trick helped Man City beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Etihad Stadium as the Cityzens returned to winning ways following the Manchester derby defeat at Old Trafford last weekend.
Man City defender John Stones said the Cityzens 'are champions for a reason' after they beat Wolverhampton 3-0 on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola's Man City ran out 3-0 winners when they hosted Wolves at the Etihad, thanks to a superb hat-trick by Norway striker Erling Haaland.
Haaland, who has now scored 25 Premier League goals, was the difference between City and Wolves - who didn't start playing until the tie was nearly over.
Speaking to Sky Sports, England centre-back Stones said: "Really good, we always have a difficult game against Wolves. They are very organised and athletic. We had to be patient to get that goal today and break them down. I thought we did so well after the other day. Especially in the first half, we weren't at it and the manager made that clear.
"We knew today we had to hit the ground running and get off to a good start, playing with tempo and that set the game.
"I didn't see the comments from Pep. But I knew what he said to us at half-time and what he wants from us and what he knows we can do and us as players when we are not playing as well as you can and in the second half we came out and showed it but it was too late but we got the win.
"Today we knew that we had to do that from the off and we did. The patience and desire were there and we were scoring goals and creating chances. Obviously, a clean sheet is massive now.
When asked about Erling Haaland's performance on the day, the ex-Everton man replied: "That's his quality. I'm so pleased for him again. He just keeps coming up with the goals. We have had a lot of good goals from different players coming off the bench and starting the games. Riyad [Mahrez] the other night. I don't want to just put it all on him. We all need to chip and we are doing but when he scores three in a game it's difficult!"
He added: "Knowing Haaland as a person and how he is around the training ground and in training, I think that's why we've been so successful over the years. Haaland scored three goals, we kept a clean sheet. Julian [Alvarez], what a replacement to come on the pitch."
On catching Arsenal, who are eight points clear at the top of the league after their home win over Man Utd, Stones said: "I think it's just about us, I've said it plenty of times. We can be our own worst enemies at times. We have to be focused. We can see where we are and keep taking it game by game. We are the champions for a reason and we want to be champions again so we have to put ourselves in the best place possible. Keep winning games and getting clean sheets and see where it takes us."
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