Laporte injury takes the shine off another slick City show
Guardiola concerned about the fitness of his central defender.
Manchester City fear Aymeric Laporte could face a lengthy lay-off after suffering a serious-looking knee injury in the champions’ 4-0 victory over Brighton on Saturday.
The Frenchman was carried off on a stretcher after going down in agony following a challenge on Adam Webster late in the first half of the Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
City have already lost winger Leroy Sane, to a long-term knee problem this season and the club are anxious Laporte has not suffered the same fate.
“He didn’t feel good. The doctor is going to call me and tell me what he has but I think, for a while, he will be out. Hopefully it is not as long as Leroy but we will see.”
Laporte’s injury seems set to deprive the 25-year-old of the chance to make his France debut in his country’s upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Albania and Andorra.
Guardiola, however, has no doubts Fernandinho can fill the position.
He said: “He is a holding midfielder, everyone knows it, but I think he has the conditions to play there.
“The problems we have right now, we have a situation, and he is going to adapt. He is going to help us because he is intelligent, fast, strong in the headers, in the build-up. He has the quality to see what happens in front. He can play in both positions.”
But Brighton did try to play attacking football and Guardiola was impressed with Graham Potter’s side.
He said: “The game was tough. If we analyse the result it was 4-0, but the performance was not 4-0 because they did really well.
“Few teams come here to play with this courage. This courage means the chances they had but the difference was because my players up front are incredibly good. They make the difference.
Potter felt his players acquitted themselves well against superior opposition.
He said: “The result is not something we are enjoying, of course, but the performance of the players was one of real courage – some good play and their application was fantastic.
“No matter what you do here it’s difficult. Congratulations to Manchester City for winning the game and congratulations to our players because they did everything we asked of them.”
