Pep Guardiola said he decided to take Erling Haaland off at half-time in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Leicester to prevent the striker picking up an injury.
The striker netted a penalty before scoring his 47th goal of the season to put his side three goals to the good after John Stones crashed home the opener. Both goalscorers were replaced at the interval.
Kevin de Bruyne, Rodri and Jack Grealish were all substituted in the second half while Ilkay Gundogan and Nathan Ake remained on the bench with Bayern Munich in mind in the Champions League on Wednesday.
READ MORE: City player ratings vs Leicester
And, speaking to the BBC after the game, Guardiola detailed why he ended Haaland’s game early.
"We made subs to make players rest but we lost some control, though in general it was a deserved victory,” he said. "We start the game to win the game. The game is never done until it's done.
"But after 3-0, and especially with the control and Erling Haaland played all 90 minutes against Bayern Munich and it was so difficult, we have to think about injuries. We are lucky after the Bayern Munich game we play at home not away. You saw how focused we were."
Speaking further on the substitutions made during the second half to Sky Sports, he added: "I had to avoid [injuries]. I always have to push ourselves better and avoid it. Normally when you make changes it happens."
Guardiola was generally pleased with his side's performance as they reeled off a 10th straight win and cut the gap to leaders Arsenal to three points ahead of the Gunners trip to West Ham on Sunday.
"It was a really good game after the Champions League as well," he added. "Against a team that is fighting in a difficult position for them. In the end when you make a lot of substitutions you drop a little bit. [We got the] three points and onto the next one.
"Of course we were worried [when Leicester scored], so we made one mistake and the second they had the chance with James Maddison and after with Kelechi Iheanacho. The game was tricky in the last 20 minutes. But the first 55, 60 minutes was good.”
READ NEXT:
