PEP GETS A SILVA LINING
Bernardo strike leaves doubting boss full of praise
PEP GUARDIOLA had doubts over whether his Manchester City stars were capable of winning here having jetted across the world during the international break. But, after a Bernardo Silva goal earned a deserved 1-0 victory for the champions, he hailed a result that he believes sends out a signal to their Premier League rivals.
“Always after the international break, you have doubts, but the mentality of the players was incredible from the first minute to the end,’’ said Guardiola.
“We played an excellent, excellent game, after the international break it is not one of the best places to come to play.
“But we created a lot and unfortunately we could not score more goals. ”
City dominated possession from the off, forcing Leicester defender Jannick Vestergaard into two desperate blocks early on.
But the Dane took confidence from those interventions, and seemed to spend the remainder of the half on a one-man mission to prevent a City breakthrough.
Beyond winning every aerial ball delivered into the Leicester box and offering set-piece threat at the other end, his most notable contribution came in the form of expertly timed lunge to deny Ferran Torres from close range.
It felt like the Foxes had been in the game throughout, but they still ended the half having taken just two shots to City’s 12.And when Jesus forced Kasper Schmeichel into his fifth save of the match just before the break, a City goal felt inevitable.
Still, Leicester made a strong start to the second half. Harvey Barnes skimmed Ederson’s crossbar with a header before Jamie Vardy rounded the keeper to finish with customary cool only for the offside flag and a subsequent VAR check to deny him.
However, Brendan Rodgers’ side were dealt an injury blow on the hour mark as the impressive Vestergaard made
way having been spotted feeling his groin following the restart.
Less than a minute later City got their goal, when the influential Silva followed in a deflected Joao Cancelo effort to score.
It was a contribution that capped a fine performance from the Portuguese star, and
Guardiola said: “His connection with Jack and Joao was brilliant.
“It is not just the quality he plays with but his incredible runs and work ethic.”
Leicester produced their best opening just before the end, substitutes Kelechi Iheanacho and Ademola Lookman linking up only for the latter to sting the palms of Ederson.
And it was that opening, along with Leicester’s overall showing, that left boss Rodgers (left) feeling his side merited a point.
He said: “Probably I feel most disappointed for the players because I thought we deserved something.
“You always know you have to defend well against Manchester City, and we showed that resilience and mentality not to concede.we had good opportunities. Jamie was unlucky with his knee offside and then they get a little bit of luck when the goal falls to them.
“We were right in there against a world-class team.”