Nico Gonzalez suffers injury 22 minutes into Man City debut as Pep Guardiola says ‘welcome to England’
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Manchester City’s new £49m signing Nico Gonzalez suffered an injury just 22 minutes into his debut at Leyton Orient and is a doubt to face Real Madrid on Tuesday.
The deadline day transfer from Porto, who was bought to fill the hole left by the sidelined Rodri in central midfield, was forced off in the FA Cup tie after landing awkwardly in a challenge.
Gonzalez appeared to hurt his back and was replaced after receiving treatment. To add insult to injury, League One side Leyton Orient scored moments after the challenge when Jamie Donley lobbed Stefan Ortega from the halfway line. City came from behind to win 2-1.
But Gonzalez’s injury is a further headache to Guardiola ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League play-off first leg against Real Madrid at the Etihad. The 23-year-old Spaniard, who Porto bought from Barcelona, would likely have featured against the European champions.
“Welcome to the Premier League and the referees,” Guardiola told the BBC. The manager was furious when the challenge on Gonzalez went unpunished.
“Maybe he knew about the referees because I understand it’s not easy. It’s not easy to do something when you play against teams like in League One.”
“I think he understood perfectly what England is,” Guardiola added. “It’s a pity because I don’t know how hard the kick is but he could not continue.”
City survived a major FA Cup scare against Orient as Kevin De Bruyne completed a late comeback to book their place in the fifth round.
The League One side threatened a mighty shock when Donley chipped Stefan Ortega from the halfway line, with the ball rebounding off the goalkeeper and into the net.
Guardiola’s side were stunned but they levelled soon after half time when Rico Lewis’ effort deflected in off substitute Abdukodir Khusanov.
It was a fortunate equaliser but the winner from De Bruyne was class, as he took down a long ball and steered a finish past Orient’s Josh Keeley in the 80th minute of the match.
