Pep Guardiola eyes rest for ‘exhausted’ Manchester City stars

MANCHESTER – Pep Guardiola is hoping two rare free midweeks will refresh his “exhausted” Manchester City squad for the English Premier League title run-in, after labelling their 3-0 win over Fulham on Feb 11 one of their best showings of the season.

Antoine Semenyo, Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland struck in the first half as City built on the momentum gained from a dramatic late victory against Liverpool on Feb 8.

“One of the best (performances) of the season, especially after Anfield for our experience there, in an important, emotional game,” said City manager Guardiola.

“The next one is always tricky. We were lucky we were home.”

Guardiola substituted Haaland at half-time and replaced midfielders Bernardo Silva and Rodri in the second half.

City are still involved in four competitions. But after the visit of League Two side Salford in the FA Cup on Feb 14, they have two free midweeks to prepare for Premier League games against Newcastle United and Leeds United before the end of February.

“Bernardo was exhausted, Rodri was exhausted. He (Rodri) didn’t lose one ball and then in the second half he lost 10 balls,” added Guardiola.

“Now we have Salford then we need to not see each other and rest. We have an incredibly tough schedule, like Arsenal, and we will have a midweek off.

“It’s been so tough and with a lot of injuries. Salford and then we need two, three, four or five days off.”

With the win, City have garnered 53 points from 26 matches, three points behind leaders Arsenal, who were scheduled to meet Brentford on Feb 12 in a match that kicked off after press time.

City netted all their goals in a 15-minute first-half spell. They opened accounts in the 24th minute, when a cross from the right was inadvertently directed back towards his own goal by Fulham midfielder Sander Berge and Semenyo was able to poke the ball into the net from close range.

Harry Wilson tested City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the home goal in a rare Fulham attack following a quick break, but it was 2-0 a minute later.

A flowing City move in the 30th minute saw Semenyo slip the ball behind the Fulham defence and O’Reilly lifted it over visiting goalkeeper Bernd Leno with a neat finish.

Haaland added a third to extend his lead in the Golden Boot race with his 22nd goal of the season, as City went on to seal their 17th successive Premier League win against Fulham – the longest run by one team over another in the competition.

Semenyo, who has scored five goals in eight games for City since joining from Bournemouth during the January transfer window, told TNT Sports that there are “no secrets” to his form.

“It’s just being part of a great team environment, the coach (Pep Guardiola) has been great and they’ve made it easy for me to settle. It’s all a fairy tale right now,” said the Ghanaian forward.

“We had to back up what we did at the weekend (in beating Liverpool). Being in a title race is new to me but I’m enjoying it, it comes with a lot of pressure and demands, but we’ve got the team to do it. Twelve games to go, let’s keep going.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Arne Slot heaped praise on Mohamed Salah after the “unbelievable” Egypt star equalled the club’s record for Premier League assists by setting up Virgil van Dijk’s winner in their 1-0 victory at Sunderland on Feb 11.

Slot’s willingness to highlight Salah’s perfectly weighted corner that van Dijk headed home in the 61st minute signalled the continued rehabilitation of his relationship with the 33-year-old forward.

Salah claimed the club had “thrown him under the bus” and made it clear he was not on good terms with Slot after he was dropped for several games amid a sustained dip in form earlier this season.

The outburst prompted speculation that Salah could be sold, but he quickly cleared the air with Slot to get back in the Dutchman’s line-up.

Salah’s latest assist in his glittering Liverpool career took him to 92 – level with Anfield icon Steven Gerrard.

“He has so many records for this club, but to have this one combined with such a great player. Both were unbelievable players for this club,” Slot said. “Unfortunately for Steven, I expect Mo to go above him. I don’t expect, but I hope he goes above him.”

Liverpool’s second win in their last eight league games eased the pressure on Slot as they kept themselves in the hunt for a top-five finish that is likely to guarantee Champions League qualification.

Slot’s sixth-placed team (42 points) are just two points adrift of fifth-placed Chelsea and three behind fourth-placed Manchester United. They are next in action against Brighton & Hove Albion at home in the FA Cup fourth round on Feb 14.

Sunderland, who lost their unbeaten home record in this season’s top flight, are 11th in the table, level on 36 points with 10th-placed Newcastle United. AFP, REUTERS