Pep Guardiola claims John Stones was Manchester City’s ‘most important player’ in Brentford win

Pep Guardiola has praised John Stones’s ‘brilliant’ performance against Brentford on Wednesday, as Manchester City extended their gap at the top of the Premier League table.

The champions beat Brentford 2-0 at the Etihad, with goals from Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne handing them the victory.

But it was the performance of Stones that particularly pleased Guardiola after the game, with the defender lining up initially at right-back for the hosts.

However, when City were in possession of the ball, Stones dropped inside and created a three-man defence alongside Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte, which allowed Joao Cancelo to advance down the right.

It was a tweak that hugely benefitted City and meant they were defensively compact and allowed Cancelo to create chances in offensive areas. The full-back had five shots in the second half alone.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola said: "He [Stones] played against Leeds in that position and was brilliant and today he was more than brilliant. Today, he was the most important player that we had to understand what happened

“Of course, in the final third Joao [Cancelo] was brilliant too. But John played really well against Leeds playing in the back four with the build-up and today the build-up was more three and it was perfect. He can play in both positions, he convinced me he knows it.

“He paid attention, is clever, is so smart in the air. The build-up is brilliant how he commits and drives with the ball. He was really really good.”

Stones also played a part in City’s first goal, when Raheem Sterling won a penalty thanks to some incisive movement from the former Everton defender.

Asked about the opener, Guardiola said: “Thanks to John Stones reading perfectly the movement we should make to break their lines, and a good action from Raheem for the penalty. Then the second half was much better.”

Why Guardiola chose that formation

City’s line-up and shape meant they controlled large parts of the game, and the Sky Blues ended the match with 76% possession.

When asked about the formation in his post-match press conference, Guardiola admitted he tailored his side’s approach specifically to face Thomas Frank’s men.

“Against this opposition, the space was in this position and John and Amy are really good at creating these spaces with these first passes,” said the Catalan.

“Unfortunately we could not shift from right to left more often, especially in the first half, and be more aggressive. When the teams play in these ways it is so complicated. We knew it today but we were patient and we didn’t make mistakes. That’s why we won the game.”