Guardiola keeps faith in Jesus
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said he was impressed by Gabriel Jesus, although the Brazilian striker did not find the net on his return to the starting XI against Bournemouth last Saturday.
City won 3-1 with goals from Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Guendogan to maintain their lead at the top of the English Premier League.
| WATFORD | MAN CITY |
While Sterling was named the Man of the Match and Leroy Sane shone, Guardiola said he was impressed by Jesus' industry and believes the 21-year-old can improve even more.
"He just needs to relax," Guardiola said.
"I love his work ethic.
"I said to him: The work out on the pitch will sustain him. He helps us a lot. I am delighted.
"He is young and he will improve because he has a desire to improve. That is important.
"I don't agree with the suggestion he did not make a good performance.
"Yes, strikers are judged on goals but we needed his runs - he made a thousand million runs in behind."
Guardiola added that he was warned by club doctors that top scorer Sergio Aguero could be ruled out until next month if he aggravates a muscle injury.
Aguero is likely to remain unavailable, which means Jesus is set to keep his place in the first XI against Watford tomorrow morning (Singapore time), their second of nine games this month.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now