A routine win for Manchester City brought Double Gameweek 36 to a close – but it was a mixed night for Fantasy managers.
Erling Haaland (£14.7m) didn’t make it off the bench, while Nico O’Reilly (£5.3m) wasn’t even in the matchday squad.
On the positive side, Marc Guehi (£5.1m) finished as the top-scoring City asset in Gameweek 36 with a 15-pointer, Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m) ended a six-match run of blanks, and Rayan Cherki (£6.6m) salvaged something from his benching with a late assist.
Here are our Scout Notes.
PEP ON ROTATION
Pep Guardiola made six changes in all, with one eye on the two games that follow.
He explained his thinking after full-time.
“Well, it’s not, of course, [just] the FA Cup final but after, Bournemouth. Three days, three days. Chelsea have been all week at home, training, preparing the final. We have to travel to London. They will be at home with their wives and kids. So, that is fatigue and fatigue and fatigue. And, of course, I have full confidence in all of the squad. Imagine the players that didn’t play today.
“So, yeah, I thought that we need energy. Savio had an incredible game. Both strikers, Antoine [Semenyo] and Omar [Marmoush], as well, always score the goals, always they score when they are close [to goal]. Yeah, in general, was really, really good.” – Pep Guardiola
Jeremy Doku (£6.5m) and Cherki came on in the second half, with Guardiola giving mixed views on their contributions – although with the City boss, he’s sometimes difficult to transcribe. It could be that he was saying Doku was only capable of contributing in the second half, and not a starting XI contender.
“Jeremy was not ready, I think, for the second half.” – Pep Guardiola on Jeremy Doku
“Kova was extraordinary and Rayan as well. Always Rayan, when not starting in the beginning, playing 5-10 minutes, he always makes his contribution.” – Pep Guardiola on Mateo Kovacic and Rayan Cherki
NO O’REILLY AS GVARDIOL RETURNS
There was no real word on why O’Reilly was missing, but Guardiola said everyone was fit before kick-off.
“Always I’ve done it, when the schedule is so tight and everybody is fit, no injuries… we need to be helped. That is the reason why.” – Pep Guardiola, speaking ahead of kick-off
Usually, the City website also says that a player is “not fully fit” (or words to that effect) if they’ve missed out with an injury.
Starting in O’Reilly’s place at left-back was the fit-again Josko Gvardiol (£5.8m), making his first start since early January.
It was a decent performance from the Croatian defender, too, although he’s still working his way back up to fitness. He came off after 58 minutes here.
SEMENYO UP TOP, FODEN DM
Onto how City shaped up, and Guardiola brought back the 4-2-2-2 for this one.
Semenyo and Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) were up front, with Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7m) and Savinho (£6.9m) out wide. Phil Foden (£8.0m) played deeper in central midfield alongside Bernardo Silva (£6.2m):
And it was Foden who caught the eye most.
The England international supplied assists for goals one and two, scored by Semenyo and Marmoush. The back-heel assist for Semenyo’s effort was superb.
Above: Phil Foden led the way for chances created (CC)
“These types of games, low block, Palace defends so well since Oliver is here. It’s quite similar in the FA Cup final. Defend really, really well, transitions, set pieces. You need the quality, the spark, the talent, the vision. It’s not in the tactical boards. It’s not in the meetings. It’s not in the videos. It’s not in even the trainings. Receives the ball there, knows he’s in the smaller spaces, and creates something, like the good players can deliver. I’m really pleased for him.
“What I appreciate the most is the fact that he played as a holding midfielder in a position like he is not used to, but the last game, the last 20-55 minutes against Brentford, he played there. He was outstanding. It’s not that he’s lazy or doesn’t run; he runs incredibly all the time. He helps a lot Bernie [Silva] in that position and after that, with the ball, we want him close to the box because Phil, close to the box, is just unique.” – Pep Guardiola on playing Phil Foden deeper
As good as Foden was in this role, will he reprise it again this season? This was a bespoke tactic designed to break a five-man, low-block defence. Bournemouth will be more front-foot than that in Gameweek 37, for starters.
Similarly, some context is needed with Semenyo. He’s generally looked more of a goal threat when playing centrally in a two, and that specific set-up assisted him in his scoring run earlier this calendar year.
But you’d imagine the Ghanaian international would be shunted back out wide in Gameweek 37/38, with Haaland to return up front, Doku to reinstate on the left and Cherki to reclaim the ’10’ role.
PALACE ROTATION CONTINUES
The Palace rotation was a bit more predictable: the backline staying the same, four of the front five changing.
Ismaila Sarr (£6.4m), who scored at the weekend, dropped to the bench. Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m), a goalscoring substitute against Everton, started.
We can expect that minute management to continue right the way through to Gameweek 38, with the UEFA Conference League final lying days after it.
“It was a few, 60, 30, and then also giving some others minutes. But again, we don’t now play with 10 new players until the end. So, we have just 18 players available from our squad. I don’t pick somebody from the under-21s because that would not be okay. And again, we could manage the minutes in a proper way, I think. It had nothing to do with being fatigued.” – Oliver Glasner
MOSTLY ROUTINE
Palace did occasionally threaten, especially early on. Mateta had a goal chalked off for a narrow offside, while Yeremy Pino (£5.8m) sent a shot off target and Mitchell forced a save.
Mostly, though, it was City on the ball (they had 72% of it!), trying to break Palace down. Without being a stinker, it wasn’t a game that will live long in the memory.
Semenyo’s goal was actually his only shot of the night, while Marmoush wasn’t brilliant despite his goal.
Cherki looked good on his introduction, providing the assist for Savinho and coming close to another.
On a barren night for Palace returns, Maxence Lacroix (£5.2m), Tyrick Mitchell (£5.0m) and Jaydee Canvot (£4.5m) at least banked DefCon points.
