City Xtra
·11 October 2024
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Yahoo sportsCity Xtra
·11 October 2024
Fulham forward Adama Traore has revealed the context of his dialogue with Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola after a 3-2 defeat to the Premier League champions.
City closed out their latest block of matches by ensuring a return to victory in the top-flight after successive draws against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, and Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
However, the meeting with Fulham was far from straightforward, and having gone 0-1 behind courtesy of a Andreas Pereira first-half strike, a Mateo Kovacic brace and a sublime strike from Jeremy Doku would ultimately be enough to put the contest beyond doubt.
Adama Traore would certainly have his fair share of opportunities to score on multiple occasions for the visitors, and had it not have been for goalkeeping excellence from Ederson and poor finishing from the Spaniard, Manchester City may not have gotten anything at all.
Speaking to El Larguero this week, as translated and relayed by The Mirror, Traore was quizzed on his post-match on-field exchange with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, as the two spoke intently after the hosts’ 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium.
“I’ve known him for a few years, but it’s always appreciated. He is the best coach in the world, without a doubt,” Traore said.
“After the game he came up to me to tell it was a good game, he gave me some pointers on how to finish the chances I had against them,” he continued.
“I met him at Barca. When I arrived at Aston Villa I also had a call with him and he has always been friendly.”
Guardiola himself was hugely complimentary of Adama Traore when speaking to the media himself after the contest, fully aware of the potential damage that could have been done to the scoreline by a single player that created a host of problems for his defence.
“Adama was unstoppable,” Guardiola told reporters. “We couldn’t control when he had the ball. You have to defend in your 18-yard box.”
“I’ve known him since the Barcelona Academy”, he continued. “Incredible threat! When he takes the ball, forget about it! Look at the run with our fastest player, Kyle [Walker], he beat him. Unstoppable in big space, so difficult to control. He’s a lovely guy.”