The first glimpse of a Manchester City prodigy was full of promise | OneFootball

There weren’t a lot of positives for Manchester City to take from their 1-nil defeat to Crystal Palace in yesterday’s FA Cup final. From a City point of view, the game was filled with what-if moments. What if Dean Henderson saw red? What if Erling Haaland took the first-half penalty instead of Omar Marmoush? Plus the catalogue of saves that Henderson made to preserve Crystal Palace’s 1-nil lead. Those are the what ifs that defined Manchester City’s defeat at Wembley.

But the one positive for Pep Guardiola’s side was the debut of Claudio Echeverri. The young Argentinian starlet finally made his Manchester City debut yesterday. It came with his team needing a goal in an FA Cup final. Although Echeverri didn’t provide that goal, he showed that he has the potential to be a very good player for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Claudio Echeverri showed that he belongs at Manchester City.

Echeverri came on in the 76th minute of yesterday’s match at Wembley. Manchester City were chasing the game, and an equaliser when he finally made his City debut. Although he didn’t provide it, Echeverri was up for the occasion at Wembley. He showed that the big stage wasn’t too big for him, which speaks volumes of his temperament. But he also had his chances, which were saved by Dean Henderson. But the fact that Echeverri got into those positions was something to take from yesterday’s match. For a player so young to get into those positions and want to take responsibility to seize a moment is a credit to Echeverri. Although he was denied his moment by an inspired Dean Henderson in the Palace goal yesterday. You do feel that his time will come based on the brief glimpse of quality he provided at Wembley yesterday.

Pep Guardiola made the right decision in giving Echeverri his debut.

It was the right decision by Pep Guardiola to bring Claudio Echeverri on for his debut yesterday. The young playmaker nearly turned yesterday’s FA Cup final. Speaking on the decision to bring on Echeverri, Guardiola said post-game: “That was not a bad decision, the way he played. He had three chances in small spaces. I saw him in training sessions. He’s moving really well in small spaces, so creative and I thought that in the last minutes [he could] find something in these type of games.”

We finally got a glimpse of Claudio Echeverri as a Manchester City player yesterday. It was a promising cameo from the young attacking midfielder. The hope is that it sets the scene for his City career. Although he didn’t score, on another day the topic of conversation could be the heroics Echeverri to save his team. Based on what we saw yesterday that headline is coming sooner rather than later.