Pep Guardiola has revealed the worrying reason why Manchester City centre-backs Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake were substituted at half-time on Tuesday evening, as the Blues booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Pep Guardiola named a remarkably strong side to face Peterborough United at the Weston Homes Stadium on Tuesday evening, with Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez also starting against Grant McCann's troubled team.
Despite the personnel, it took the Blues until the 61st minute to break the deadlock, as the Cambridgeshire club put up fierce resistance, and almost took the lead in the first-half through Jeando Fuchs' effort, which was well saved by Ederson at his near post.
Eventually, Manchester City would take the lead through Riyad Mahrez, as the Algerian smartly finished, as he rolled the ball into the far corner.
Jack Grealish would guarantee Manchester City's place in the FA Cup quarter-finals for a third successive season seven minutes later, as the £100 million man scored his ever FA Cup goal.
The win, which was the Blues' 30th victory of the campaign, may however be bittersweet, after Pep Guardiola revealed the worrying reason for replacing both his centre-backs at half-time.
John Stones and Aymeric Laporte came on for Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias at the start of the second-half, and Pep Guardiola said post-match that the changes were enforced due to 'medical reasons.'
Ake, who was making his 14th start of the season, was taken off after 45 minutes due to a 'knock' according to Pep Guardiola, with the Dutchman having taken a heavy fall midway through the first-half.
Dias was also substituted at half-time, with the Catalan revealing post-match, that the Portuguese defender was 'was not feeling good in his leg.'
Manchester City are set to welcome rivals Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in the Premier League, with the Blues looking to extend their lead over Liverpool, at the top of the table.
Man City waste Manchester United time in FA Cup win over Peterborough ahead of derby
Manchester City progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a forgettable performance from an understrength XI, Any Manchester United analysts tuning in to Manchester City's FA Cup tie with Peterborough would probably have been better off focusing on pancakes for the evening.
Even accounting for the chaos that has reigned at Old Trafford this season, you would like to think that they would already be aware that defenders need to close their legs when Riyad Mahrez gets the ball and that Phil Foden will make you pay if you give him room and time on the ball.
Those two were the exception for City on Tuesday evening, making things look easy as the white shirts around them huffed and puffed without success. Anyone watching could safely conclude that the Blues would be much improved at the weekend, not least because they would have a better XI on the pitch.
Pep Guardiola views these games as crucial to his pursuit of multiple trophies because they allow him more chance to keep his squad happy, and it wasn't just the sight of Fernandinho in the line-up that did this.
Source:
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Gabriel Jesus and Jack Grealish were both given their first runs out after recent injuries, and it showed in a toothless first-half display that saw City get none of their nine shots on target from their mammoth 77 per cent possession. Think of the opposite of City's display in Lisbon and it was pretty close.
That shouldn't be unexpected from a No.9 who has decided he would rather not play up front, and a No.10 who is yet to be as greedy as City coaches want him to be and who has admitted he has not got the goals he should have done since switching from Aston Villa in the summer.
There were positive signs from Grealish, particularly after he scored the first goal, yet that should not change the immediate plans. It should be taken as read that it would be a major surprise if either Grealish or Jesus manage to keep out the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva when United rock up on Sunday.
Guardiola spoke before the game of how he has mellowed in his age and now rarely shouts at the players in the dressing room after matches if they have underperformed, although he can't have been thrilled with this: a night for City to accept the win and move on in hope of a better performance.
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