Pep Guardiola said it was a ‘pity’ that Nico Gonzalez had to come off on a bruising introduction to English football.. The £50m deadline day signing was straight into the starting XI for the FA Cup but was bundled off the ball and could only watch as Jamie Donley smashed the ball from 45 yards onto the crossbar, then onto Stefan Ortega and then into the Manchester City net. Guardiola’s side would recover to win 2-1 but Gonzalez came off injured in the 22nd minute.. City’s manager felt like that was one of a number of decisions that should have been a foul – Omar Marmoush was denied what looked like an obvious penalty in the second half – and hopes that Gonzalez won’t be out for too long after the ‘hard kick’ that he got. Despite that issue, Guardiola was delighted that his team found a way through in the FA Cup.. “I think Nico got immediately what is the Premier League and the referees. I know without VAR it is more difficult because they are not used to it but there were one or two actions. I say that because we won, otherwise I would stay silent, but there was a clear penalty,” he said.. “I think he understood perfectly what England is. It’s a pity because I don’t know how hard the kick is but he could not continue. It was tough to finish the game with Rico and Bernardo as right back and left-back. They are not giants.. “Outside the first 10 minutes, we played a really good game. It’s impossible to control. It’s my ninth season in England I played many times in this incredible competition. The vibe and the smell of the crowd, you don’t find it in other competitions.. “We always behaved good. We were lucky at the end because they had chances butt we created a lot of chances. it was a tight game, we knew it but we behaved really well, we reacted with character and it’s always nice to be in the next round.”
