Pep Guardiola has expressed pride in the young team he fielded against Manchester United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, praising them for going toe to toewith a far more illustrious United side and coming away with just a narrow defeat.
City were left sweating on the fitness of Vincent Kompany once again though - the centre-back leaving the match after just 45 minutes as he looks to come back from a series of persistent muscle injuries. After the match, Guardiola simply explained:"He told me he could not play anymore."
Pep Guardiola declared himself "proud" of his Manchester City players, despite losing at Man Utd https://t.co/oYY7WWG1m7 pic.twitter.com/jALWSBssQU
Shifting his focus to the team of youngsters fielded by the Premier League leaders, Guardiola toldSky Sports:"I am so proud of our performance, congratulations to United, but I am so proud of our young players and how we played."
The match leaves City without a win in their last six games in all competitions - the club's longest such run in eight years and the longest of Guardiola's entire managerial career - but he insisted that it was no time to panic.
Pep Guardiola: I took Vincent Kompany off at half time because he told me he could not play any more #mcfc
"We had our chances, two or three on the counter¦At that level, it's when you are more clinical with the last pass, but it's always difficult against United. We competed well.
"They did a good job.(Pablo) Maffeo was amazing, fighting with (Marcus) Rashford and (Paul) Pogba and he won almost all the duels. I am so proud, we are happy.I want to try to win but that's competition. Next season we will try again and we have to try to focus on the next competitions."
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