Guardiola praises Grealish for his second half performance at Leeds

Pep Guardiola praises Jack Grealish for his second half performance at Leeds after his two assists took the game away from the hosts… but urges the England man to be more ‘ambitious’

• Jack Grealish set Erling Haaland up twice in the second half to take game away
• The England man had missed a number of gilt-edged chances in the first period
• Pep Guardiola praised Grealish for his performance and control he gave the side 

Jack Grealish has been praised by Pep Guardiola after his two assists for Erling Haaland helped Manchester City take the game away from Leeds United in the second half.

The England forward appeared to grow frustrated with himself in the first period after he missed a number of chances, including one notable opportunity from a Rico Lewis pull-back that he skied over the bar with the goal gaping. 

Speaking to the media after the game, Guardiola was asked about Grealish and he praised him – but urged the England man to be more ambitious in his play. 

Jack Grealish was praised by his manager for his performance and assists away at Leeds United

The Catalan referenced Grealish’s decision to square the ball for Haaland for City’s second goal on the night when he only had Illan Meslier to beat as indicative of a player whose confidence was not 100 per cent there in front of goal.

‘Grealish made two assists, he allowed us to give an extra pass when he had it,’ he told BBC Radio 5 Live. 

‘With Riyad [Mahrez] and Jack the tempo was better. But he has to be more ambitious, he has to score more goals and be competitive because he has the quality to do it.’

Pep Guardiola said that Grealish and Riyad Mahrez had brought much-needed control to City’s showing and had set the tempo

Grealish’s time at City has been blighted with accusations that he does not produce enough – with Alan Shearer saying as part of Amazon Prime’s coverage for Wednesday night’s game that he needs to produce more, and should look at the ‘killer’ Haaland for inspiration.

Guardiola, however, echoed his sentiments to a second broadcaster – drumming home how happy he was with Grealish’s role in City’s victory at Leeds.

‘Grealish gave two brilliant assists. When we can rest the ball with Jack and Riyad, it gives us the right tempo,’ he said.

Guardiola, however, doubled down on his belief that Grealish needed to take chances when they came to him

‘But of course, we have to score goals. When the chances are there, it’s important. It’s a mental question. 

‘We know from training sessions that he has the ability to put the ball in the net. Of course he’s not a striker, but he has the ability to do it. He just has to say ‘I’m going to score’ – there’s no negativity in his mind. When that happens, he is going to score goals.’

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