Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola makes shock assessment following derby win over Man Utd
PEP GUARDIOLA has bizarrely branded Claudio Bravo's Manchester City performance as "one of the best" he's ever seen.
Pep Guardiola - 5 things you need to know
Bravo was thrown into the deep end by Guardiola this weekend, making his debut in the 2-1 win over rivals Manchester United having signed on deadline day.
The 33-year-old was brought in for his superior distribution skills at the expense of Joe Hart who has been loaned to Italian side Torino for the season.
However, the former Barcelona man made a catalogue of errors, including palming the ball into the path of Zlatan Ibrahimovic for United's goal and recklessly tackling Wayne Rooney in the box.
And bizarrely Guardiola heaped praise on the Chile international after the game, calling his performance "one of the best" he'd seen as a manager.
Pep Guardiola has defended Claudio Bravo's awful Manchester City debut
"Claudio had one of the best performances I've ever seen," Guardiola told Sky Sports.
"When you make a situation for the goal - after that he continued to play in our build-up and [went] for other long balls to pick them up.
"That means a lot for me, the personality, because in football when you make a mistake it's how you react to that mistake.
"He was unlucky in the situation [Ibrahimovic's goal] because I think he clashed with John Stones and this sometimes happens - it's football.
"It's more the brilliant reaction from Ibrahimovic than the situation from Claudio."
Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?