Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has told BBC Sport at he feels justified in his comments about playing Ilkay Gundogan further forward.
City were in action on Saturday evening, beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium with a comfortable victory.
Rodri opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Gundogan was brought down by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and it then became the Gundogan show.
The German midfielder took Raheem Sterling’s pass and fired underneath Hugo Lloris, before racing onto a long ball from Ederson, beating Davinson Sanchez and slotting home.
City have now won 11 Premier League games in a row and look to be on course for the Premier League title, with Gundogan stepping up in Kevin De Bruyne’s absence.
The 30-year-old now has a staggering eight goals and one assists in his last eight Premier League outings, hitting the form of his life with City.
Boss Guardiola has now admitted that he has long thought Gundogan has the ability to play as a false nine, and even though people laughed at him, he’s now being proven right.
Guardiola even feels that Gundogan could make a run for February’s Player of the Month award having already won the January accolade, with his form simply unbelievable right now.
“I said many times he could play as a striker, like a false nine, and people laughed,” said Guardiola. “I understood why because he didn’t do it here. But he has the sense to arrive at the goal.”
“Today it was the action for a clear penalty and after he had the quality to score the two goals. He has the tempo to arrive there. He is so good in these moments. He won the award for player of the month. If he keeps playing this way in February, he is going to win it again,” he added.
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