The head coach was delighted with the defensive structure of his side, who kept their third clean sheet in as many matches to propel themselves up the Premier League table, as well as his players’ ability to keep fighting until the end – something the replicated from Thursday night's Europa League win away at Besiktas.
On taking three points at Manchester City
“We played good, we played good. The performance was good and defensively we were very good, very organised, we knew exactly the points of pressure, and the boys worked hard today.
“At the end, running, most of them were at their limits, but until the end it was fantastic. The fans enjoyed it, and it was good; it was very good.”
On first-half chances
“We had a couple of good chances, and we need to finish the action, we need to finish the action, but it was good. We had chances but at the same time it’s still difficult against City, so difficult.
“They play so fast, the situation of the ball requires a lot of work, the chances come eventually, but more important was the organisation, the way the players did their tasks, covering, always pressing; good.”
On Traore’s finishing
“It’s something that is improving, he’s improving. Everybody remembers Adama, he is special because he’s very fast. He’s unique and we have to take advantage of that.
“Putting in Matt [Doherty] to try to stabilise the defence and search for a moment of attacking talent. We never give up.”
On improving league form
“It’s been a long season already – we’ve had too many games, but we always compete, we always compete. No matter what game, I can never say to the players that they didn’t compete for each moment of the game, but this is the way we work, this is the way we want to build for the future.
“Now we have to maintain and sustain. We had a down in terms of performance and we’ve had an up. Now we have to stabilise because the players are going to their national teams. It’s not the best of timing, but we hope they come back healthy and we start again, preparing the next game.”
