Manchester City picked up another Champions League victory on Wednesday night with a 5-0 win over Sparta Prague.
City opened the scoring in the third minute through Phil Foden, but were unable to find the back of the net throughout the rest of the first half.
However, a brace from Erling Haaland and a goal each from John Stones and Matheus Nunes gave Pep Guardiola’s side their second Champions League win of the campaign.
This victory saw Haaland overtake Neymar’s total of Champions League goals, with the Norwegian now on 44 compared to the winger’s total of 43.
Once the match at the Etihad Stadium came to an end, the City manager shared some significant praise for another figure in his squad who played a key role in Wednesday’s victory.
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Pep Guardiola raves over Matheus Nunes after Man City vs Sparta Prague
During his post-match press conference after City’s latest midweek game, Guardiola gave this assessment when asked what he made of Nunes‘ performance.
He said: “Really good. When he scored the goal, how happy were all his teammates? He’s incredibly beloved, honestly. He’s a lovely guy.
“He has specific qualities; if you can run in transition, he’s as fast as Haaland. He’s unbelievable when he runs 30 or 40 metres, nobody can stop him.
“He has special qualities that we don’t have, that’s why we need him. He can play in many, many roles. His generosity in [going] backwards, defensively.
“The only problem he has is just one; his manager maybe doesn’t give him the minutes that he deserves.”
How did Nunes fare against Sparta?
Making just his third start of the season, Nunes completed the full 90 minutes against Sparta in a left-wing position.
Having 89 touches of the ball in total, the 26-year-old assisted City’s third and fourth goals before winning the penalty, which he then scored, to give the Blues their fifth and final goal of the match.
In addition to making three key passes, Nunes also made three tackles to highlight how useful he can be on and off the ball.
It also backs up Guardiola’s point about the midfielder being hard-working in a defensive manner.
This display ultimately earned Nunes a spectacular overall match rating of 10/10 from SofaScore.
After the game, Nunes shared a post on his Instagram account which led to Jack Grealish, Oscar Bobb and Savinho sharing very positive responses about him.
Now that Guardiola has suggested that he hasn’t been giving Nunes the minutes he deserves, it’ll be interesting to see if the midfielder becomes a more prominent figure in the City team from now on.
