Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted he was 'happy' with his team's 2-0 victory over Watford and hailed his player's defensive work, after the Citizens kept their first clean sheet since late October.
City went into the match under increasing pressure after back-to-back league defeats had seen them fall seven points behind leaders Chelsea. However, Pablo Zabaleta scored his first goal for nearly two years, before David Silva added a late second to get Guardiola's team back on track following a difficult few weeks.
FT | City 2-0 Watford
Gritty City get back to winning ways thanks to goals from @pablo_zabaleta and @21LVA. #cityvwatford #mcfc pic.twitter.com/RLzQE1CEEW
Speaking after the win, the City manager was understandably happy with the result and was quick to praise the efforts of his players.
He told the clubwebsite: "We are happy with the result, it was important to win this game against a well-organised Watford side.
All the team worked hard and it is good to get a clean sheet and all our defenders did well against Watford's tough, powerful strikers.�
The Spaniard then went onto praise Yaya Toure who had taken up a deeper role in City's midfield than he would normally. Guardiola credited the 33-year-old's versatility and stated that Toure can play in a number of different positions.
He added: Yaya is an exceptional player and if he plays as he did today we are very happy for him - he can play as a defensive midfielder or further forward and he did very well this evening,�
Having made five changes to his side, the City manager was then asked about his decision to drop central defender John Stones and striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
Both players had started in the 4-2 defeat to Leicester City last Saturday but although they were named on the bench for Wednesday's game, Guardiola insisted that there was no hidden message behind the decision.
The Spaniard said:I decided on the central defenders yesterday and Kelechi had a little problem yesterday so he started on the bench, nothing more.�