"It was instinct. I've seen the ball come into me and thought it was the right thing to do in that moment. It came off and we won the game."
If you hadn't seen the goal Nico O'Reilly was describing, you would expect a run-of-the-mill finish, maybe something a little bit impressive, but nothing too extravagant.
So it's probably a reflection on O'Reilly's laid-back demeanour that he was reflecting on his outrageous scorpion kick from a tight angle in the 94th minute to win the game for Manchester City last month and keep their U18 Premier League title challenge on track. Seven days later, after seeing his wonder goal go viral, he sent City fans wild again with a 40-yard lob in a Manchester derby victory. With both wins, City went on to win their division.
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"I saw the 'keeper off his line and tried it and it came off," he said this time of the goal against United, in another contender for understatement of the season.
While O'Reilly didn't pay too much attention to the online hype around his two spectacular strikes, and wasn't giving any thought to calls for a Puskas Award nomination, he did expand a little on his favourite goal of the pair: "The scorpion kick, it's not something you see all the time. With the United one, it's hard to pull off, you need the confidence to do that. But definitely the scorpion one."
Even Pep Guardiola made a point of congratulating O'Reilly on his two impressive goals when the forward was called up to first-team training shortly after, along with a number of the senior members in the squad. O'Reilly's head coach Ben Wilkinson, though, had a slightly different assessment of the scorpion kick winner.
"If we gave him 100 attempts at that on the training ground, I don't think he'd do it again!" Wilkinson jokes. "It was an amazing moment, especially with the game being 1-1, injury time, on the back of the Arsenal defeat in the Youth Cup.
"Over the course of the season when you do win league titles, there are usually some games you look back and think 'that was a really important one'. It tends to be things like late goals, moments of quality, something out of nothing."
Such a brilliant goal is the result of the confidence flowing through O'Reilly this season, having taken the responsibility as one of the senior members of the under-18 squad as the youth team defended their U18 Premier League title for the third year in a row. While City challenge some younger players to step up to under-21 level, O'Reilly was given the chance to play regularly for the under-18s and really kick on this season.
In return, the 18-year-old has 13 goals and 14 assists in 32 appearances this season, including a goal or assist every 73 minutes in the league, and his coaches believe he can get even better.
"This is the third year in a row I've worked with Nico," explained Wilkinson. "I've had a real good front-row seat into his development. We've always thought he has a real high ceiling in terms of what his potential level could be.
"He's had a difficult couple of years in terms of he grew really quickly, it affects coordination, balance, which is sometimes hard for boys of that age to understand. He's come out the other side from that now and he's starting to grow into the young man we thought he might - the physicality he can possess, the technical and tactical levels are very, very high.
"We've always challenged him - can you be more consistent and influence games at the top end of the pitch more often? He really hit a sweet spot of that in the last couple of months and it's all credit to him. It's him hopefully starting to fulfill a high potential. Nico has been absolutely outstanding at the back end of the season in terms of his form and level."
O'Reilly himself admits that he's played better this year with the pressure of leading the under-18s, including their 12-game winning run to win the north division of the U18 Premier League, in a wider run of one defeat in 21.
"Coming to the U18s as captain you have a lot of responsibility on your hands," he explained. "In the past years we've won the league so many times. All the players, coaches are looking to do it every season. As the captain you need to step up and take control.
"I play better under pressure. We've had pressure this season at certain moments and we've risen to the situations. We've done well, it's been a positive season. We had a desire and hunger for the league. The league was tight for the whole season, we knew we couldn't afford to lose or draw. It makes us better, in those games with something to play for, the whole team turns up and everyone's on it."
After training with the first team at times this season - including on their mid-season break to Abu Dhabi - O'Reilly is already plotting how he will continue his trajectory with the under-21s next year.
At the weekend, O'Reilly celebrated with the first team at the Etihad after captaining the under-18s to their national title as part of a third Premier League treble of senior, under-21 and under-18 titles. On Wednesday, with injuries taking a toll on the first team and the Premier League title secured, O'Reilly was called up to the bench for the first time at Brighton.
"We've got pressure to win the league again and hopefully win more trophies like the Youth League," he says. "I want to be in the first team, hopefully make my debut next season, that's my goal and what I'm aiming for."
With finishing like he has exhibited for the under-18s this season, and with Guardiola clearly impressed with his exploits, maybe O'Reilly is right to aim high. He might even get that debut before the end of this season.
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