Pep Guardiola praises Man City unsung hero who made Erling Haaland better against Crystal Palace
Even before Julian Alvarez was brought on the pitch alongside match-winner Erling Haaland, Pep Guardiola had already predicted Alvarez’s important role in Manchester City’s victory over Crystal Palace.
Manchester City dominated the game against Palace but struggled to score despite Haaland missing a great opportunity against a resilient defence.
When Alvarez replaced Phil Foden just before the 60-minute mark, he immediately played up front with Haaland, causing City to change their formation.
Within a couple of minutes, Alvarez almost scored and City’s play significantly improved with the new system.
This led to their goal, a penalty by Haaland, which was earned after Ilkay Gundogan’s smart play to win a short corner and provoke a foul.
At the end of the match, Guardiola gave credit to Alvarez, revealing that he had planned the substitution that would change the game after only thirty minutes of play at Selhurst Park.
“Julian in Bournemouth scored twice. Teams defend deep against Haaland, he helps to Haaland to come more spaces and create,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“Julian is so important and we need him in these games. In the first half after 30 minutes I said to my coaches Julian is coming on immediately in the second half. We needed him in the middle and he had a chance immediately. Today we found it, an intelligent action. Gundo is an exceptional player and got the penalty and Haaland did the rest.”
Guardiola also shared the message he gave to his players at halftime, encouraging them to stay calm and composed as Palace would likely continue trying to cause them difficulties in the second half.
He explained: “They have weapons. [Wilfried] Zaha is there, [Michael] Olise, [Eberechi] Eze, they are incredible strikers and they have incredible threat. They have composure, great attacking players. It is a question of patience.
“It’s not easy, we spoke at half time, don’t lose control. Stay there, keep the rhythm, they will waste time. But don’t lose the head. The back four everyone in the middle, upfront, were brilliant.
“Everything pleased me, we missed the counter-attack a bit. It is not easy, they defend six players in the box, winning duels. They were close to Jack, to Phil, Gundo always has a man on him, Bernardo a man on him and Haaland had two men marking him, it was a question of patience. It’s not easy.”
Pep Guardiola praises Man City unsung hero who made Erling Haaland better against Crystal Palace
