Pep’s City: Five talking points

From John Stones’ debut to Joe Hart’s absence, we look at five talking points from Pep Guardiola’s first game in charge of Manchester City.

It was a victorious start for the Spaniard – but City did it the hard way. 

Guardiola’s reign started in style, with Sergio Aguero putting City ahead after just four minutes from the penalty spot. But Jermain Defoe levelled and the home side needed a late Paddy McNair own goal to take all three points. 

Here are the talking points from the encounter…

Hart second choice… for now

Despite making 35 Premier League appearances for Manuel Pellegrini last season, Joe Hart has immediately been replaced by Argentine Willy Caballero in Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up. Hart made several high-profile errors in an England shirt at Euro 2016, but Guardiola has hinted it’s his distribution which is the issue.

Discussing how he likes his goalkeepers to play out from the back, Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference: “‘Joe has quality and he can do that… with time. But his time is now – it’s not about what happens in six months, seven months. Now he is a player for us.”

Statistically, Caballero produced an 80 per cent pass completion rate against Sunderland – Hart averaged 52.6 per cent in the 2015/16 Premier League season. But Guardiola’s focus would also have been on the type of passes Caballero was aiming to make.

Caballero showed he is a capable shot-stopper, too, denying Defoe from close range – although he was later beaten in a one-on-one by the Sunderland striker.

Hart will hope Guardiola opts for rotation for Tuesday night’s Champions …

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