Kevin De Bruyne did not feature in Manchester City’s win over Brentford due to a hamstring issue.
The Belgian played the full 90 minutes over the weekend as City were held to a frustrating draw by Chelsea, and it was a surprise when the team sheets on Tuesday night showed that De Bruyne had dropped to the bench.
Oscar Bobb made his first Premier League start, while Bernardo Silva also came into the side against the Bees.
Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the match, finishing cooly with 20 minutes remaining, as City moved up to second in the Premier League and just a point behind leaders Liverpool.
De Bruyne did not come off the bench, with Pep Guardiola confirming after the match that it was a precautionary move as City look to avoid a serious injury.
“He has niggles in his hamstring area and I didn't want to take any risk with him,” Guardiola said.
“He's OK, he's OK, it was more about prevention. He said he didn't feel comfortable and the doctors said not to take a risk.”
De Bruyne has made only four starts in all competitions since making his return to action last month, having been on the sidelines for five months with a hamstring injury.
The 32-year-old suffered the problem on the opening night of the campaign, away to Burnley, and subsequently underwent surgery. It came after a hamstring problem also forced De Bruyne to limp out of the Champions League final last season.
Explaining the decision to have surgery, De Bruyne said: “Basically, I’m a 32-year-old footballer who has been playing 15 years, made almost 700 appearances had a couple of hamstring injuries and the surgeon told me my hamstring was like a wet paper towel.
“The tendon was ruptured, they needed to clean it out and it was the best decision.”
