Martin Keown has praised Pep Guardiola for the substitutions he made during Manchester City’s win over Newcastle United.
After finding themselves 2-1 down at St. James’ Park last weekend, the Citizens were able to secure a 3-2 victory thanks to two second-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Oscar Bobb.
Having picked up such a dramatic win, one pundit has shared his praise for Guardiola’s role in the game and what he did to make sure his side came away with all three points.
Keown praises Guardiola for Newcastle subs
Speaking on talkSPORT, Keown had this to say about Guardiola’s decision to put De Bruyne and Bobb on in the second half of the Newcastle game last weekend.
He said: “No one has said it, but Pep was quite brilliant. He was sitting there wrestling with putting De Bruyne on and it took until the 72nd minute he went ‘let’s play him,’ and that timing of his decision making, and Bobb coming on as well, quite magnificent.”
Duirng the second half, Guardiola decided to take Bernardo Silva off and put De Bruyne on for the Belgian’s second Premier League appearance of the season due to his lengthy injury lay-off.
Five minutes after that, the midfielder scored his first league goal of the campaign to make it 2-2.
In the 82nd minute, Jeremy Doku was replaced by Bobb, who eventually went on to score City’s dramatic winning goal in injury time, a goal which was assisted by De Bruyne.
Taking into account the significant impact both of the second-half City substitutes made in this particular game, it’s easy to see why Keown has praised Guardiola for making these changes at such a crucial stage of the match.
Having come back from behind to win a game away from home, this, we feel, shows the character and the fight these City players have in them and how much they want to regain their Premier League title.
