PEP GUARDIOLA REACTS TO ERLING HAALAND MAGIC AS CITY BLANK EVERTON
Pep Guardiola demanded more goals from his other attackers after Erling Haaland's brace beat Everton. The Man City boss warned the team cannot rely solely on Haaland, challenging his wingers and midfielders to step up.
Pep Guardiola had a fiery temper. Erling Haaland of Manchester City, after the Norwegian scored two goals against Everton on Saturday, marked his comeback to the Premier League.
Naturally, he responded by praising Haaland, who has scored 11 goals in eight Premier League games. However, in the midst of jokes about Haaland failing to score five goals against the Toffees, Guardiola chastised his fellow attackers for their poor finishing abilities.
In his quest to become the fastest Premier League player to 100 goals, Haaland added two more goals to his hat trick while playing for Norway against Israel this week.
On Saturday, Man City and their star striker struggled a little before scoring fast goals at the hour mark, and he scored with his head and left foot.
After City got back from the break and settled in before two difficult away games in the Champions League—against Aston Villa on Sunday, October 26, and Villarreal on Tuesday—Guardiola had a lot to say.
Erling Haaland remains hot, Manchester City blanks Everton, and Pep Guardiola responds.
What do you think of the game? "We lacked enthusiasm and were not there with the second balls for the first 15 to 20 minutes following the international break. We had opportunities, so it was wonderful. We accept that the energy was there and that people were coming from the bench, which was a really good thing. It is preferable to get better at winning games.
What made dismantling Everton difficult? "That group is excellent. See where they are at the table. With Tarkowski's experience and the long balls, Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, and Beto are quite powerful. We knew that was a strong team. In the first part, our procedure was not flawless.
"I am really sad that Erling Haaland did not score four or five goals," the commenter said. We must acknowledge as a team that we cannot fully depend on him. He is always there, but we need other players. Without goals from wingers and attacking midfielders, we cannot win.
"To score goals, they must step up." Naturally, we must give Haaland scoring opportunities, but we also need the other players to step up. They must demand that of themselves at that level. The opportunities from Tijjani, Jeremy, and Savio as well. We must do it, or it will become more challenging.
Always him. That is what he lives for. He provides us with a lot. Our construction is far superior. Erling is currently our primary player, and the passes are delivered much more effectively.
Regarding Nico O'Reilly: "He is muscular, young, and plays a lot of minutes." Excellent. He is a tall man with some mobility in confined areas. It was demonstrated by the opening goal; the pass was flawless.
MANCHESTER CITY CONDEMN RACIST ABUSE OF STARS SEMENYO AND GUEHI
Following swift stadium action, Manchester City pledge full support to Semenyo and Guéhi amid shocking discriminatory abuse.
Manchester City didn’t hold back after Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi faced racist abuse during and after their wild 3-3 draw with Everton. The game itself was a rollercoaster; City managed to scrape a point thanks to Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku, who nailed a jaw-dropping equaliser in the 96th minute.
Doku actually got City off to a great start, putting them up before halftime. But Everton flipped the script after the break, scoring three and having everyone on edge with ten minutes left. City defender Guehi made a costly error on Everton’s first goal, his misjudged back pass handing the ball to Thierno Barry, who didn’t think twice about putting it away.
Since then, City put out a statement confirming that Guehi was targeted with disgusting racist messages online, while Semenyo, who played most of the match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, endured abuse in the stadium itself. City’s statement was straightforward: they’re outraged by the abuse and thanked Everton and the police for acting fast to identify the person responsible. They made it clear they're sticking by Guehi and Semenyo and won’t tolerate discrimination in football.
Right after the game, Guehi posted on social media, owning up to his mistake but keeping his head up. He thanked City fans and leaned on his faith, writing, “I need to do better, but we keep going & focused on the next. Thank you for your support as always! Thank you, Jesus!”
Racism in football keeps getting worse, on and off the pitch, and there’s a growing call for authorities to actually step up and fight discriminatory abuse wherever it shows up.
Both Guehi and Semenyo have made an immediate impact at City. Guehi came from Crystal Palace in January for £20 million, fitting right into Guardiola’s defence and looking sharp until Monday’s mishap. He’s already played 16 times for City. Semenyo arrived from Bournemouth for £64 million, has 22 appearances, and has made himself a regular threat, scoring eight goals with three assists, moving smoothly between central and wide positions.
They’re both expected to be in the lineup when City faces Brentford at home on Saturday as Guardiola’s team hangs onto their faint hopes of defending the title.
PEP GUARDIOLA REFUSES TO GUARANTEE RODRI’S RETURN FOR MONDAY’S PREMIER LEAGUE CLASH
Pep Guardiola provides the latest injury news on Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol ahead of a crucial title race clash at Everton.
Pep Guardiola has shared the latest on Manchester City's injury situation ahead of Monday’s Premier League match against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
City is in good form right now. They came from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend, making it six wins in a row across all competitions.
But they’ve had to do it without Rodri. He's missed their last two matches, including a tight 1-0 win at Burnley, after hurting his groin against Arsenal a couple of weeks back. Guardiola recently told reporters that Rodri is getting better, but the team’s been cautious and isn’t rushing him back.
At his latest press conference on Friday, Guardiola said Rodri still hasn’t returned to training, so they’re just taking it day by day. There's hope, but Guardiola wouldn’t give any guarantees about Rodri’s chances of playing against Everton. "He’s getting better. Still, he didn't train with us, so we’ll see in the next few days,” he said. When pressed about his confidence, Pep just replied, “I am always confident.”
With Rodri still not training, it sounds like a last-minute decision on whether he’ll play. A start against Everton seems unlikely. That probably means Nico González, who scored the winner against Southampton, will keep his spot in midfield next to Bernardo Silva. Maybe Nico O’Reilly slides into central midfield, too, if he isn’t covering at left-back.
It’s not all good news in defence either. Ruben Dias is still out with the ankle injury that’s kept him sidelined for the last six games, and Josko Gvardiol is recovering from the tibial fracture he picked up in January. Both are working their way back, and Guardiola says they’re improving, but there’s no sign of a return just yet.
Turning to the Everton game, City could head into it trailing Arsenal by six points if the Gunners beat Fulham on Saturday. With the title race this tight, City can’t afford to slip up.
Guardiola knows Monday will be tough. “Everton have always been tough,” he said. “Old Everton was so cool and so British, and I loved to go there, but in the new stadium, they are defending really well, and it has always been tough." He’s not taking recent Everton results lightly, adding, 'They're fighting for a place in Europe. We won with two or three actions here, but we were not good at that moment. We can’t have any result but win, win, win.”
Everton won’t be easy, especially away, but City can at least take confidence from their strong record of 17 league games unbeaten against the Toffees. They won the reverse fixture 2-0, with Haaland scoring both goals. Still, Guardiola isn’t expecting it to be straightforward.
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