Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola singled out three players who were instrumental in helping his side hold onto their narrow lead in the dying minutes of their thrilling victory over Fulham tonight.
The Citizens had been cruising with a 5-1 lead, but allowed Marco Silva's side back into the game, who clawed their way back to 5-4. In injury time, Gvardiol notably denied the London outfit an equalizer with a goal-line clearance.
"Rayan Cherki is new. Tonight, in the final minutes, Rayan, Bernardo, and Nico O'Reilly were key to us conceding fewer scoring opportunities," he stated. "They stepped up in the closing stages, especially Rayan, who was exceptional. What can I say? We will improve. We have many good things, and we will correct the bad ones," he added.
The Catalan coach then highlighted the absences Manchester City has faced, particularly in midfield: "It's [Tijjani Reijnders'] first season, Nico O'Reilly's first playing in that position, Matheus [Nunes'] first in that role. It's Nico Gonzalez's first year playing so much. Kovacic and Rodri — the Ballon d'Or winner who, alongside Erling Haaland, is our most important player — haven't been available for a year and a half. We don't have a substitute for Nico in that position."
"We have to learn from these kinds of situations for the future. It's essential," he said. "When Rayan [Cherki] came on, we had moments where we were one-on-one with the goalkeeper, so we had our chances. In the end, we need to manage better, but I promise that with experienced players, this doesn't happen. When it does, it does. We need to control it better, but it happened. Sometimes, that's football," he concluded.