Pep Guardiola praised the contribution of Gabriel Jesus in Manchester City’s 3-0 FA Cup fourth-round win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
19-year-old Brazilian Gabriel Jesus made his first start for the club in their 3-0 victory over Palace, assisting Raheem Sterling’s goal, and also earned the free-kick that Yaya Toure then converted.
The young star almost managed to fire in his first goal in England, as he rounded Palace keeper Wayne Hennessey late on, before an unlucky and unfortunate slip.
The 27m signing earned the praise of boss Guardiola, who said:
“He helped a lot,”
“It’s the first game and it’s not easy for him to communicate as he doesn’t speak English, so he’ll need time. But he makes a lot of movement and his assist was outstanding.
“Sooner or later the new player has to start to play. Of course they have to deserve to play and show me on the pitch and on the training session but he made a good five or 10 minutes against Tottenham, when he came in and created two or three chances.
“Today he made a good assist and it was his last action, the fight and run with the central defender, and he won the duel. He played very good.
“He’s very young, though – we cannot forget he’s 19 years old and he has a lot of room to improve. But we’re here to help him and improve his natural condition he has.”
Despite many feeling that the main focus for City will be the Champions League and the Premier League, Guardiola was eager to stress the importance of the FA Cup.
“We’re happy because we are in the next round and it’s important in England and important for us,” he said.
“We beat a team in the Premier League away, so that counts a lot for me. I know Crystal Palace are focused on the Premier League but at the end their qualities are there. The long balls Christian Benteke is able to win and Andros Townsend on the wing is an exceptional player, so we had to minimise their actions.
“For all the teams in the Premier League the FA Cup is important. Of course the Champions League is the sweetest one but in the English league, the Premier League is the most important and the second one is the cups. Of course it’s important.”
