Erling Haaland scored Manchester City’s winning goal at Crystal Palace, but Pep Guardiola reserved praise for another striker.
Pep Guardiola could have predicted Julian Alvarez’s role in Manchester City’s victory at Crystal Palace well before the Argentine was introduced alongside winner Erling Haaland.
City were on top at Palace throughout but failed to score a goal and Haaland was blamed for squandering a glorious chance against a resolute defence. Alvarez replaced Phil Foden just before the hour mark and immediately played alongside Haaland as City changed form to accommodate the striker.
Alvarez almost scored a minute or two after his introduction, and the new system sparked the City improvement that would lead to the goal – a Haaland penalty after clever work by Ilkay Gundogan to win a short corner and attempt a free kick.
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But it was Alvarez who earned full-time praise from Guardiola, with the manager revealing he masterminded the game-changing substitution after just half an hour at Selhurst Park.
“Julian at Bournemouth scored twice. The teams defend deep against Haaland, he helps Haaland open up more space and create,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“Julian is very important and we need him in these games. In the first half, in the 30th minute, I told my coaches that Julian would come on immediately in the second half. We needed him in the middle and he had a chance right away. Today we thought it was a smart move. Gundo is an exceptional player and he took the penalty and Haaland did the rest.”
Guardiola also revealed his half-time message that supported the second-half performance, telling the players to remain calm as Palace would look to thwart them.
He explained: “They’ve got guns. [Wilfried] Zaha is there, [Michael] Olise, [Eberechi] Eze, they’re incredible strikers and they’re an incredible threat. They’ve got composure, great attacking players. It’s a matter of patience.
He explained: “They’ve got guns. [Wilfried] Zaha is there, [Michael] Olise, [Eberechi] Eze, they’re incredible strikers and they’re an incredible threat. They’ve got composure, great attacking players. It’s a matter of patience.