Pep Guardiola will no doubt do a little bit of preening after his questioned team sheet delivered late for a 2-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
RECAP — Everton 0-2 Man City
Nico O’Reilly and Matheus Nunes again started at fullback, and the unorthodox duo combined to produce the winner in Walton.
Mateo Kovacic scored a goal off the bench after that, as City pulled back into the top four, a point back of Newcastle, and guaranteed another weekend in a Champions League place.
How did Pep see it?
Pep Guardiola reaction — Man City boss reacts to late win over Everton
Thoughts on the game? “Second half better than the first. Initially we struggled. The second half was much much better. We saved the ball when we needed to save it. They are a tough, tough side. We found a goal at the end and an incredible victory especially for the Champions League. It was really important.”
“Of course every player performed better after halftime. As simple as that.”
On Nico O’Reilly at left back: “He’s an attacking midfielder when the game is in some tempo. He arrives really, really, really well. When Josko [Gvardiol] played left back he scored a lot of goals. Now Nico does. We are fortunate to have these guys. He’s No. 10 and has the quality to arrive to the box. He’s helping us a lot in games like this. In set pieces we are not tall, strong. He helps us there. Him and Mateo as well, did really really good.”
On O’Reilly playing advanced up the pitch: “To score a goal you have to arrive as people there. On the cross for the first goal, you see how many players are there. It is impossible to score goals if you don’t have players there.”
On finding proper motivation to reach UCL: “Of course the motivation is different from the title. But I try to convince the players that achieving the Champions League is a huge achievement in this country. You have something for the future to try and improve. If we think that qualifying for the Champions League is not good, we are not right. Since I’ve arrived, every season in the Champions League is a big, big success.”
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