Jesus is a ‘joy of a guy’, says Guardiola
MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola hailed Gabriel Jesus’ impact in Tuesday’s 4-1 Premier League win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, after the Brazilian’s brace sent them 15 points clear at the top of the table.
City took an early lead through an own goal from Wolves defender Leander Dendoncker, before the visitors found the equaliser around the hour mark through Conor Coady.
But Jesus put City back in control with an 80th-minute strike, before Riyad Mahrez added another. The 23-year-old Jesus completed his double in injury time to wrap up City’s 21st straight win in all competitions.
“You cannot imagine how happy we are when Gabriel can score the goals he does,” Guardiola said of the striker, who has 11 goals and three assists in 27 games for City in all competitions this season.
“You cannot imagine how many things that people don’t realise he does for the team. How he helps us in our first pressing and intensity, he’s a joy of a guy.
“We know it’s not in the statistic, it’s not in the highlights, but the influence in our games, what he does and (people) never realise he does, is amazing.”
City, storming towards their third league title in four years, moved to 65 points with 11 games left to play, ahead of Manchester United on 50 points, with a game in hand.
United were at Crystal Palace last night, and face City at the Etihad Stadium in the Manchester derby on Sunday.
City’s latest win equals their club record run of 28 games unbeaten in all competitions, set between April and December 2017.
The margin of defeat was a little harsh on a Wolves side who were on level terms at the 80-minute mark, but City’s late surge reflected their dominance of the game.
Despite extending the club’s record run of wins in all competitions to 21 – the most for an English top-flight team – Guardiola was in no mood to talk about the title being in the bag.
“Manchester United. That’s all we care (about now),” he said.
“The champions are Liverpool, the crown belongs to them. We are in the best position right now to take them out, and we are going to try, but they are the champions.
“There are 33 points to play for.”
A tour to India may no longer be the daunting prospect it was previously, but it remains arguably the biggest challenge in world cricket.
The hotels and stadiums have improved beyond imagination and now even outshine many first world countries' accommodation and stadia. But all of that has only created a false sense of comfort for the cricket out in the middle remains as relentless as ever in often unforgiving conditions.
The Proteas Women's team, who are back on the subcontinent for a five-match ODI and three-game T20I series starting in Lucknow on Sunday, are fully aware though of the gauntlet ahead of them.
Moreeng's side were whitewashed 3-0 in their last ODI series here in 2019, and furthermore the Proteas Women have won just two out of seven ODI's since visiting India for the first time in 1997.
However, the Kimberly-born coach believes it’s lessons learnt from those drubbings that have adequately prepared them for these series.
"Indian conditions are not easy for a touring team. But most of us in the squad have been exposed to these conditions before. Our last visit to India was not a joyful one because of the way the results went," Moreeng told the media yesterday.
"But the players learnt from that tour. A lot of the youngsters who were on that tour are back again and are eager to see how they will cope in those conditions now. Another challenge though is that it's the first time we're at this venue, nobody knows anything about it, and if there is someone, it's very limited. We will see how it goes."
South Africa have, though, a major advantage over their Indian counterparts heading into this series. They recently played two highly-competitive ODI and T20I series against Pakistan in Durban. In contrast, India have not played together since the T20 World Cup final against Australia in Melbourne a year ago due to Covid-19.
The fact that the series were played at Kingsmead was a "blessing in disguise" according to Moreeng, especially as the pitches used were slow and offered the spinners plenty of purchase.
"Durban was surprising for all of us in terms of the way the conditions played. We take a lot out of it as a team in terms of the way the players adapted to the conditions. To still get the desired results in those conditions was pleasing for us. We were very pleased especially as it was our first series since coming back from Covid, " he said.
"Now coming to India we expect similar conditions, but you never know as anything could happen on the day. Overall though I think it was a blessing in disguise that we were exposed to those conditions ahead of this tour."
This trip to India has its own unique demands though due to Covid19. The entire series will be played in a bio-secure environment, while the tourists had to undergo a quarantine period upon arrival.
"It is our first experience being away from home in a bubble. It is very very different I can tell you. It was taxing on each and every one the first two/three days, but as time went on the players started adapting," Moreeng explained.