PEP Guardiola heaped praise on the way Saints served it up to Manchester City and added: “I have only respect and admiration for Ralph’s team.” Speaking about Saints in his post-match press conference,
Pep Guardiola said: “The first 20-25 minutes, they were the best team we have faced here all season – home or away. I have only respect and admiration for Ralph’s team and the way they play. We suffered a lot to control them. We could not do good build-up because we did not contend with the holding midfielders. They were brilliant. It was a tough game and an incredible victory.”
Asked what Saints were doing to cause his side problems,
Pep Guardiola replied: “Because they are so good. They put a lot of players in the middle – Vestergaard and Bednarek. With Ward-Prowse, they have the quality to attract, with his passes, our players in the middle and after they found behind the two wingers and the strikers – they do it really, really well. But of course, they exposed a lot and every time you regain the ball you have a chance to run and make a counter-attack. Without the ball they have a process to play incredibly well.”
