Guardiola explains Man City star’s absence in win over Crystal Palace | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola confirmed that Nico Gonzalez’s absence from the Manchester City squad against Crystal Palace was not due to an injury.

The midfielder was a surprise absentee from the matchday squad as goals from Antoine Semenyo, Omar Marmoush and Savinho moved City back to within two points of league leaders Arsenal with a 3-0 win.

But Guardiola confirmed Gonzalez’s absence was just a selection decision ahead of a busy run of games.

“Yeah he’s fine but I had to leave a lot of players out because we are, all the squad, ready,” Guardiola explained.

“Nico brought us to the final of the FA Cup with a fantastic goal and all the season played in that position.

“But the last game I saw Bernardo (Silva), how he played there, and that’s why I decide to do it today again.”

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Rodri also missed out once again through injury and asked if he could be back for the FA Cup final against Chelsea on Saturday, Guardiola said: “I don’t know, we’ll see in the next days.”

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