Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted that what should have been an easy 3-1 win over relegation strugglers ended up being uncomfortable in the later stages, as the Premier League champions were forced to withstand an onslaught from Leicester.
With an eye on City’s Champions League quarter-final second leg in Munich on Wednesday, Guardiola made a raft of early substitutions — goalscorers John Stones and Erling Haaland both withdrawn at half-time, and Rodri and influential playmaker Kevin De Bruyne both hooked before the game reached its 63rd minute.
‘That normally happens when you make a lot of substitutions,’ Guardiola said of the last 15 minutes of Leicester pressure.