Pep Guardiola hailed the resilience of Manchester City after the champions beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at the Etihad.
City were cruising towards a 12th consecutive Premier League win at the Etihad as goals from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland put the home side two ahead at the break.
Foden’s opener came after a brilliant 46-pass move, the longest Premier League sequence City have ever recorded that has led to a goal.
The game changed seconds into the second half however, when Rodri was sent off for violent conduct. The Spaniard placed his hands around the throat of Morgan Gibbs-White and was dismissed, leaving City to face the second half with ten men.
City held firm to record a clean sheet and three points, extending their perfect record this season to six successive wins. Guardiola praised the resilience of his side after being reduced to 10 men early in the second half.
“An exceptional game in the first half. Exceptional game in the second for our resilience and our work because we played, I would say, 51/52 minutes ten against eleven so it was not easy but we were fantastic,” Guardiola told the BBC.
“I thought the way we played in the first half was amazing so against a difficult side for the physicality the pace they have up front so yeah, recover for the next one.”