Bernardo Silva gave Manchester City an injury scare by being taken off at half time of their 7-0 thrashing of Leeds. The brilliant Portugal star, who been their player of the season so far, was taken off amid concerns for his fitness – but manager Pep Guardiola had encouraging news after the game. He made it plain that Bernardo was taken off as a precaution, and could have stayed on had City not already been three goals up at the break.
Pep Guardiola said: “He had muscular niggles, didn’t feel comfortable, and after 3-0 (we were taking) no risk.”
The ease with which City secured the three points meant that they could also afford to rest other key players, with Rodri going off after 55 minutes, to be replaced by Fernandinho, and Nathan Ake taking the place of Ruben Dias ten minutes later.
Pep Guardiola said: “Really good game – we dropped five points last season, and cannot forget that, and we were the same guys as today except Jack. (Grealish) The vibe in the stadium was phenomenal and when this happens the players feel it. thanks to them. Yeah it was a pleasure.”
