Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admitted that relegation-threatened Leicester City were better than their defending champions during the Victory 2-0 at the King Power Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Guardiola’s side faced what Opta define as three ‘big chances’, all of which Leicester missed in a particularly wasteful afternoon for the promoted hosts. Savinho – who was the Premier League’s most wasteful player with 27 unsuccessful attempts ahead of the weekend – opened the scoring for City before Erling Haaland sealed three much-needed points with second half header.
Speaking with Sky Sports straight after City’s first away win since October, Guardiola he was not entirely impressed. “Our mood is in a better position,” admitted the Catalan coach. “It was tight in the second half, they were much better. We don’t have the energy to last 90 minutes. We hope that the New Year will help us to come back.
“To get results, you have to do something. To do it in the position we have, a lot of good things happened today. It’s not pleasant right now, it’s just a relief. We’ve done amazing things for many years. It’s not the best.”
The win for City – just their second in any competition in their last 14 games – lifted the Sky Blues into fifth place.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Guardiola, who took time to praise Savinho’s performance. The summer recruit played Haalandthe second after scoring the first goal of the match. “He has incredible ability and quality,” Citythe boss said of the Brazilian.
“The team is not in the best moment, but he is trying until the end. He is so aggressive on both sides. The moment you score one or two, you score a lot. I am really pleased for him. He played on the left and he can make those crosses. It was very good.”
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