The Man City coach reacted harshly to the fans in the 1-0 win over Newcastle, the second round of the English Premier League.
Pep Guardiola praised Man City’s bravery and winning mentality for the 3-point achievement they got against Newcastle, just over 2 days after they won the European Super Cup in Greece.
During the match, Pep Guardiola did not make any substitutions. This is the first time since May 2022 that he has done so. Perhaps because of impatience when the home team led with a fragile 1-0 score, while Newcastle clearly showed their determination to find an equalizer, a fan sitting near the direction of Man City asked the captain to substitute.
TV cameras catching the manager appearing to tell one fan he was welcome to come and take his place on the bench.
Asked about the incident after the game, Guardiola was all smiles as he explained to TNT Sports: “He said to me: ‘Make a substitution!’ and I said: ‘Come. Sit here and do it!’ I understand, and I felt a lot for Cole [Palmer], for Rico [Lewis], for Kalvin [Phillips] but the game was in a good tempo, a good rhythm and I didn’t see the players were tired.”
“It wasn’t easy to do the changes so that’s why I didn’t do it.”
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Julian Alvarez scored the only goal to bring a 1-0 victory, ensuring Man City started winning after 2 Premier League matches. Pep Guardiola praised the winning spirit of the whole team:
“This is only the second game of the season but it shows why we have won so much. The mindset and spirit of this group of players amazes me every time.
“Man City played Newcastle in the context of many losses due to injuries, without rest, but the team played really well. The way they defended, ran and fought hard was amazing.
“We deserved to win and could have scored more goals.
“The difference for the winning teams is the mentality. The City players have done that for years and today showed it again.
“We Man City are not in the best condition right now, there are 5-6 important players who have to sit out. But the Premier League decided to let us play today, okay we accept being made difficult.”
Man City faced a challenge at the beginning of the new season with the trump card De Bruyne recurring a hamstring injury, having surgery and sitting out for about 4 months, while Bernardo Silva missed the last 2 matches due to illness.
Previously, the defending cup holders also bid farewell to captain Gundogan (to Barca) and Riyad Mahrez to Saudi Arabia.
