Pep Guardiola hailed Kevin De Bruyne after 10-man Manchester City left it late to beat Fulham in the Premier League - saying the win made sense of his job at the Etihad.
After taking the lead through Julian Alvarez's impressive finish, City saw Joao Cancelo sent off for a foul in the area and Andreas Pereira convert the resulting penalty. The following hour saw the Blues work hard without creating too much, with substitute Erling Haaland having a goal ruled out for offside before De Bruyne tempted a foul in the area in the fourth minute of injury time.
Haaland stepped up after coming off the bench and squeezed his penalty under Bernd Leno to send the Etihad into raptures at a hard-fought three points. The striker was delighted at full-time, as was Guardiola, who insisted his squad saluted all four stands of the Etihad in celebration of the victory.
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Reflecting on the game, and explaining why the post-match celebrations were so emphatic, Guardiola said: "Playing 65 minutes [with 10 men], 90 minutes 11 against 11 is difficult, but the way we play 10 against 11 against this team, they miss [Aleksandar] Mitrovic a lot, he's so important for them, but we concede just one shot. We played at the right tempo, you can't attack quick because they attack quicker.
"Bernardo [Silva], [Ilkay] Gundogan, Rodri, Kevin [De Bruyne] were amazing all the players in the middle. I said many times in the recent past still he's not his best. Kevin in the games at Leicester and today he was completely the opposite. A movement guy, today he puts the team on the shoulders.
"Everyone was exceptional. 65 minutes against Fulham to play the way we played, the moment of my period in Manchester by far, the score at the end and the celebrations with our people. We don't win the Premier League today, of course, but this moment makes sense of our jobs. All of us. Seeing the faces of our crowd. Making the pitch walk was really good."
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