Pep Guardiola heaps praise on duo after Manchester City win
Pep Guardiola addressed the media after Manchester City's 5-0 win over Norwich City, hailing his side's performance and singling out Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus as the team's standout players on the night.
City needed a big performance to bounce back from their opening-day defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. Goals from Jack Grealish, Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling and Riyadh Mahrez, along with an own goal from Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul ensured all three points for Pep Guardiola's side.
Speaking after the game, Pep Guardiola said:
"This result was the consequence of how many good things we have done. We are still not at the top – there are still many things to do. We trained; we were refreshed, happy for these first points.... hopefully they will not be the last!"
The performance was a great way for the holders to make a statement.
Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus sizzled for Manchester City
Pep Guardiola particularly lauded the performances of Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazilian led the line with aplomb and ended the game with two assists. Guardiola was pleased with the Manchester City man's showing, saying:
"He’s a player who likes to be wider than central position. One of the reasons why I'm a manager is when you can work with people and humans like Gabriel. He never complains; he plays five minutes, he plays the best five minutes he can do. He’s happy on the left, right or centre, and today, the connection with Kyle was exceptional."
“I’m pleased with his performance; he was involved in three of our goals, and he is an incredibly important player for us. He made an exceptional performance today, and I repeat, if he plays three minutes, he plays the best three minutes for the club and everyone. The more you have in this position, the better we are. When someone plays like this, they deserve to play. He's so young, big congratulations because he deserves in life the best. He's so generous, and as I say, I’m incredibly satisfied for him."
The spotlight was heavily on Jack Grealish after his £100 million move from Aston Villa. The Englishman scored on his City home debut, and Guardiola was quick to applaud the Englishman's performance:
"If he gets the mentality to score goals like Raheem, yeah (he can score more),” he said. “When Raheem was here when I first arrived, he didn't have goals in his mind and we immediately changed that after his arrival. Today he scored because he arrived in the centre; he’s a machine there. He changed his mind and decided he was going to score. Jack has this mentality to score goals and win games as well. But if he has the Raheem mentality, then he can do it too."