Sane comes good for patient Guardiola
PEP GUARDIOLA doesn’t always get things his own way. It’s just he doesn’t make a fuss like Jose Mourinho across Manchester.
When United outbid City for Alexis Sanchez in January, Guardiola shrugged his shoulders and moved on. When a young player like Leroy Sane tested his patience earlier this season, Guardiola delivered a short, sharp lesson rather than a drawn-out public humiliation like those dished out at Old Trafford to Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial.
Yesterday, Guardiola got his reward. Sane, dropped from City’s last game, was welcomed back into the fold as a new dad and took only 98 seconds to mark his return with a goal. It set up a comfortable victory, with David Silva and Rahim Sterling on target as City maintained their 100-per-cent home record this season to stay within two points of Chelsea and Liverpool.
City boss Guardiola said: ‘We never doubted Leroy’s quality. He showed us many times before and today he played so good.
‘But we cannot forget that he is 22 years old and this kind of thing, a little bit up and down, happens at that age.’
Sergio Aguero pulled up injured and with City’s Champions League clash with Lyon on Wednesday, Guardiola said: ‘It’s something in the ankle. When he fell down, he felt something.’
Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic said: ‘It was never going to be an easy day for us but we didn’t find our perfect level. They showed they are one of the best teams in the world.’