Pep Guardiola Admitted He Was “Worried” By Leicester’s Late Rally
Pep Guardiola admitted he was “worried” by Leicester’s late rally in the 3-1 win.
John Stones opened the scoring early on before two further first-half goals from Erling Haaland, the first from the penalty spot and the second set up by Kevin De Bruyne, settled the result before the break.
The hope for Leicester in Dean Smith’s first game in charge was their final 15 minutes when substitute Kelechi Iheanacho’s late goal against his former club almost triggered the most unlikely of comebacks with the Nigeria forward and James Maddison missing late chances.
By that point in the match, Guardiola, whose side face Bayern Munich on Wednesday, had made five substitutions, taking off John Stones, Rodri, Haaland, De Bruyne and Jack Grealish as City completely lost their rhythm in the final stages.
Guardiola told Sky Sports: “It’s always tricky after the Champions League against a team who is fighting but the quality is there. We started really well with focus but when you make lots of substitutions you drop a little bit. It’s three points and we move to the next one.
“It was completely different because the guys that start the second half it was the same approach as the beginning. I have a little bit of experience to play in three days in the important stages and you make a lot of substitutions and some dynamics we have and some players don’t. And when the game was under control we made the changes.
“Of course it was worrying – we made a mistake and then they had the chance with Maddison and Kelechi. The game was tricky in the last 15 minutes. But the first 60-65 minutes was good.”
The victory takes City to within three points of Arsenal with a game in hand. Mikel Arteta’s side play West Ham, live on Super Sunday with Man City and the Gunners set to lock horns on Wednesday April 26
Guardiola said: “Like I said lately, it is always win, win and win. They have done an incredible season so far, aren’t going to drop many points. It was important to win today because it is a final we have against them in the next game.”
