O'Reilly: It's an honour to play next to Rodri | OneFootball

Nico O'Reilly has praised midfield partner Rodri after the duo were at their best to help City to a 3-0 Premier League victory over Fulham.

Match Report

City cruise past Fulham to keep up title pressure

Antoine Semenyo poked us ahead after 24 minutes, before O’Reilly grabbed his fourth goal of the season across all competitions with a clever dinked finish.

Erling Haaland added a third before the interval to complete the scoring at a rainy Etihad Stadium, taking our towering striker level with Club legend Colin Bell in our all-time goalscoring charts with 153 goals.

O’Reilly, who began the season as a left-back for Pep Guardiola’s side, has been deployed in recent weeks as an advanced midfielder and the Academy graduate admitted he is thoroughly enjoying himself in the middle of the pitch, especially alongside 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.

“Rodri is so good. Everything he does is so clean,” he began in an interview after the game. “It’s an honour to play next to him. Playing next to him and learning from him everyday even in training helps me so much.

“I’m loving it. I love it in the middle, try to dictate the game and try to get in the box to score goals.

“He [Pep] is very big on second balls, duels, and dominating the midfield. I think I play a big part in that, using my body to win the ball back and counter. That’s what he’s trying to get across to me.

“It did [feel comfortable]. In the first half we were good, we dominated the game. Going into half time with three goals put us in a great position. I thought throughout the whole 90 minutes was good. We dictated the play and got the win.

“It was good. Antoine is very good one against one. I made it two against one running in behind, and it was a tight angle so I thought I’d chip the goalkeeper.”

The victory takes us three points behind league-leaders Arsenal who are scheduled to play on Thursday night away to Brentford.

READ: IT’S ALL A FAIRYTALE AT THE MOMENT, SAYS SEMENYO

O’Reilly revealed title talk is amongst the conversations inside the City dressing room but insisted the team’s focus is always on the next game.

“We’re definitely talking about it,” he continued.

“For us, our main goal is three points every game and just to apply pressure to Arsenal.

“So that’s all we can do really.”