Guardiola’s not fazed by his first replay
PEP GUARDIOLA had no complaints about the prospect of a replay after seeing his side battle to a goalless draw at Championship Huddersfield.
The Catalan is new to the FA Cup and has never faced a replay before, but he insisted that he would take it in his stride.
City face Monaco in the Champions League on Tuesday and then have a free weekend as the Manchester derby has been postponed due to Manchester United’s involvement in the EFL Cup Final next Sunday.
The club are flying to Abu Dhabi for warm weather training and to meet the owners after their European game, but Guardiola insisted those plans would not be affected as City will be back in England on Saturday.
Guardiola made eight changes for this game and watched as the replacements couldn’t get the job done.
But rather than complain about a replay, he admitted that a rematch at the Etihad was preferable to an embarrassing cup exit.
“Don’t ask me about the rules of the Cup,” he said.
“I am new in your beautiful country. You have to ask the brilliant brains about the decisions.
“I think it will be my first-ever replay. I am not Sir Alex Ferguson. I have only been here six or seven months.
“So many teams in the Premier League are now out. We have another chance at home and we will try and qualify.
“I was not surprised by the way Huddersfield played. It is a big compliment to my team because I know how difficult it was.
“The pitch was hard with a rugby game played on it two days ago and they are so aggressive and dynamic.”
However, Guardiola refused to be drawn when asked if he had seen an incident where Raheem Sterling appeared to have a bottle thrown from the stands in his direction when warming up on the touchline.
He stated: “I prefer not to say anything. I don’t want to be banned because normally we are banned.”
Huddersfield boss David Wagner is busy trying to mastermind an unlikely promotion to the Premier League with his side lying third in the Championship.
And they showed why they had won six on the bounce against the Premier League giants. Now Wagner is refusing to write off their chances second time around.
“I am very proud and very happy that the players stuck to their identities,” he said. “We tried to play our game.
“It was a great team performance.”