Man City: Guardiola names five Rodri ‘solutions’ after ‘intense’ win over ‘really good’ Fulham

Jason Soutar
Pep Guardiola. Kyle Walker and Jeremy Doku
Man City manager Pep Guardiola gives instructions to Kyle Walker and Jeremy Doku

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola lauded Ederson and Mateo Kovacic for inspiring Saturday’s 3-2 win over Fulham.

Kovacic scored a brace to help Man City come from behind after Andreas Pereira’s opener, which came courtesy of an outrageous Raul Jimenez assist.

It was not all about the Croatian, though, with goalkeeper Ederson making several crucial stops to secure the three points.

“It was intense, it was tight, chances for them, chances for us,” Guardiola said. “We started well and created many chances and it was tougher when they went to five at the back. It was a risk to manage it but in the end we did.

“It is a really, really good team. Marco [Silva] is a top manager who has been working there for many, many years already.

“They have players they bought in the summer, including the ones from Arsenal [Emile Smith-Rowe and Reiss Nelson] and they have a lot of quality.

“The two (goals) with Kovacic were good when they had five at the back because only the striker can defend him in that situation and that makes the transitions less dangerous. We used that weapon and Kova did really well.

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“We have always had the ability to do it. Like Brentford, the rest of the game we were playing really well but sometimes it (a goal) happens.

“The first goal with the pass from Jimenez was not expected by anyone so you have to give the credit to the opponent. They had more good chances too but Ederson made some incredible saves.

“We don’t have him [Rodri] now this season so we have to find a solution. We have Kova, [Ilkay] Gundo, we can put John [Stones] in that role, Rico [Lewis], Manu [Akanji] so we have to find a way.

“Of course the presence of Rodri is important in this type of game with the transitions but we played really well.”

On Jeremy Doku’s goal, Guardiola concluded: “It was really, really good.

“We always talk about his ability to dribble but it is then about the final pass, that last action.

“I was diagonal to him [when he hit the shot] and the ball made an incredible curve effect. Really happy for him.

“The last game against Bratislava he was really good and today as well.”

Kovacic admitted that City do miss Rodri but is happy to fill in for the injured Spaniard.

“I am playing there in the middle at the moment and of course we need to cover for Rodri, we miss him a lot. I think any team would miss him, the player that he is, and we wish him a speedy recovery and hope he comes back in as good a shape as possible.

“For now we have to adapt and for sure the manager has a lot of options so we can rotate.”

Kovacic continued: “It was a tough game like every game in the Premier League, we always say that there are no easy games. We dominated in the beginning and couldn’t score, conceded the goal and then came back quickly.

“In the end we won it and it was a tough game against an opponent in good form, so for us it is good to continue winning.

“The manager told us that we should be in and around the box because the ball always arrives there. I was luckily there and Bernardo gave me a good ball, it was good control and a good shot.

“It is always important to get the win, it doesn’t matter who scores, the most important thing is getting three points. And now we hope to continue like this.”

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The Croatian added: “It means a lot because my wife is pregnant so it was great to get some goals for the little one. It’s nice to score but the most important thing is the team and that we won today.

“It is never easy to play in the Premier League and today we showed great character. Good game for us.

“We play every three days and every game is a tough one. It is not easy and we have to adapt to the schedule. It is what it is. We have to be in top form every day.

“We could have conceded an equaliser but thankfully we have Ederson in our goal.”

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