Pep Guardiola seemingly rewarded Matheus Nunes for his heroics against Sparta Prague by giving him a chance to make a rare start in Manchester City’s 1-0 win against Southampton.
Nunes repaid Guardiola’s seeming faith in him by putting in yet another impressive showing against Russell Martin’s side.
Recently, Pep Guardiola blamed himself for Matheus Nunes’ playing time being restricted to the odd start and cameos off the bench.
The Manchester City midfielder was tasked to play on the left flank yet again after his recent outing in the Champions League — with Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku also sidelined through injury.
Within five minutes, Nunes played a pinpoint cross into Erling Haaland’s path, who opened the scoring for City as he now has three assists to his name in his last two starts.
Throughout the contest, the former Wolves speedster was one of the liveliest players at the Etihad Stadium.
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What Ederson said to Matheus Nunes after Man City defeated Southampton
Joleon Lescott claimed Nunes “poses a different threat” on the left-wing as well.
The Portuguese international also played in the role against AFC Bournemouth in a 1-0 win for Pep Guardiola’s men last season.
Nunes captioned his post-match Instagram post after Manchester City beat Southampton: “Three important points on a tough challenge today.”
Ederson commented: “Vamos” [which means come on in Spanish], followed by a ‘heart’ as well as a ‘thumbs up’ emoji.
Savinho left the letter A as an emoji to signify Nunes’ assist followed by a ‘fire’ emoji.
The 26-year-old seems to have the support of his teammates at Manchester City.
Nunes stats for Man City vs Southampton
The statistics seem to back up Nunes putting in an impressive display.
What is telling is that the numbers indicate that the Premier League winner put in an accomplished display from both a defensive and an attacking perspective.
| NUNES STATS VS SOUTHAMPTON | |
| CHANCES CREATED | 2 |
| XG + XA | 0.62 |
| TOUCHES IN OPPOSITION BOX | 9 |
| DUELS WON | 4 |
| RECOVERIES | 3 |
| ACCURATE PASSES | 53/58 (91%) |
Nunes was an all-round threat against the Saints.
The question Pep Guardiola will be pondering over is whether to start the Portuguese international against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup.
Nunes seems to look surprisingly comfortable out wide.
Furthermore and perhaps most importantly, the ex-Sporting CP talisman is a man in form currently.
