Three assists from Jesus show Guardiola his worth
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LONDON • Jack Grealish may have stolen the limelight with his first goal for Manchester City since his British-record £100 million (S$185.6 million) move from Aston Villa but Gabriel Jesus offered a timely reminder of what he can offer manager Pep Guardiola.
The Brazil forward was given a right-sided role by Guardiola and produced a man-of-the-match display with three assists on Saturday.
Jesus, who joined in 2017, was marginalised in the last Premier League season and there has been talk of a move away from the Etihad.
But given the nod by Guardiola, he caused havoc for the Norwich defence who simply could not get near him.
His low cross in the seventh minute led to Grant Hanley's clearance going in off goalkeeper Tim Krul and in the 22nd minute, he teed up Grealish for his first City goal.
Jesus then put one on a plate for substitute Raheem Sterling in the second half as City ran riot, crushing the newly promoted Canaries 5-0.
"He's a player who likes to be wider than central position," Guardiola said, after the English champions rebounded from their opening-day defeat by Tottenham in style.
"One of the reasons why I'm a manager is when you can work with people and humans like Gabriel.
"He never complains, he plays five minutes, he plays the best five minutes he can do."
With Grealish on the left and Jesus on the right, Ferran Torres in a central role and Bernardo Silva and Rodri pulling the strings behind, City dominated from the first minute.
Aymeric Laporte netted City's third while Sterling and Riyad Mahrez came off the bench to finish the job - it was the perfect illustration of City's incredible attacking depth as Kevin de Bruyne was not even involved.
Even if City do not end up signing Tottenham striker Harry Kane - the transfer window closes on Aug 31 - Jesus showed he still offers something to the squad and no wonder Guardiola looked contented at full time.
"He's happy on left, right or centre, and today the connection with Kyle (Walker) was exceptional," the Catalan said.
"I'm pleased with his performance; he was involved in three of our goals and is an incredibly important player for us.
"When someone plays like this, they deserve to play."
REUTERS
