Nico O’Reilly was Manchester City’s saviour as he assisted both of Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush’s goals as his boyhood club beat AFC Bournemouth 2-1 in the quarter-final of the FA Cup.
Pep Guardiola perhaps took the surprise decision of bringing the 20-year-old off the bench in the first place instead of opting for a forward like Marmoush or Jeremy Doku as his first substitute.
However, Guardiola is one of the best managers in history for a reason as Nico O’Reilly had an instant impact as a makeshift left-back by setting up Haaland’s equaliser within four minutes of coming off the bench.
Pep Guardiola embraced O’Reilly after Manchester City defeated Bournemouth and told him to celebrate with the away supporters after what was a day to remember for the youngster.
Guardiola has lauded O’Reilly’s stature previously and it seems like a huge admirer of the City academy graduate.
Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Nico O’Reilly shares Pep Guardiola advice after Bournemouth vs Man City
O’Reilly will be happy that he has reached a stage in his development where the Manchester City boss can rely upon him to change the course of games, as he did against Bournemouth.
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Guardiola thinks O’Reilly can play in defensive midfield, which goes to show that he views him as a versatile player and a potentially handy squad player.
O’Reilly is a boyhood Manchester City fan and for him, just being on the pitch donning sky blue regardless of where he plays would be the goal.
After Manchester City’s well-deserved victory against Bournemouth, O’Reilly told Optus Sport that Pep Guardiola instructed him to stay high and wide, make runs in behind and drift inside at times: “He was just telling me to stay wide and get in behind and if the winger’s out wide, come inside in the pocket so we have an extra man in attack.”
The highly-rated midfielder expressed his gratitude about working with Guardiola as well, saying: “He’s an amazing manager. He’s won so much, he’s done so much for us all and I’m just grateful he gives me the opportunities like today to go and show what I can do.”
Nico O’Reilly’s stats were unreal during Bournemouth vs Man City
The England Under-20 international will be hoping that he has done enough to start in the semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
The versatile technician will also have his sights on Wednesday night, with a potential start against Leicester City in store for him.
But coming back to O’Reilly’s heroics against Bournemouth, the statistics indicate how impactful he was.
NICO O’REILLY STATISTICS VS BOURNEMOUTH
ASSISTS 2
DUELS WON 3/5
DRIBBLED PAST 0
CLEARANCES 2
DEFENSIVE ACTIONS 5
Via FotMob
The Sky Blues’ man of the moment did not just provide two assists but also won three out of his five duels, made five defensive actions, two clearances while not being dribbled past even once.
Pep Guardiola deserves a pat on the back as well for recognising that O’Reilly’s intelligence, athleticism an dynamism both on and off the ball were missing in Manchester City’s first-half display against Bournemouth.