Pep Guardiola names 'unique' and 'unstoppable' Man City star who 'changed the game' in Aston Villa win

Pep Guardiola believes Man City star Jeremy Doku is the 'best player in the world' at beating players over five metres. The 22-year-old played a key role for City from the bench as they scored late to defeat Aston Villa 2-1 in the Premier League on Tuesday night.

Doku has not been a regular in the starting line-up in recent matches and was named as a substitute for their crucial clash against Villa. However, Guardiola needed him to make an impact when he was brought on for James McAtee to try and turn the draw into a win.

The Belgian winger looked lively whenever he got on the ball and provided the key moment of the match when he cut inside from the left and played an excellent cross to the back-post to set up Matheus Nunes for the winner. It felt like a pivotal goal in the race for Champions League qualification, with Doku an unsung hero of the win.

'Unstoppable' Doku 'changed the game

Speaking after the dramatic win over Aston Villa, Pep Guardiola piled the praise on Jeremy Doku and thanked him for the enormous impact he had on the result.

"Jeremy always gives you something, for the crowd," he said. "He changed the game. "In the first three or four actions he could not do the action but at the end for me Jeremy is the best player in the world in the first five metres. Over five metres he is unstoppable and today he made the action and made a good cross and you have to be there. Nico was there and Gundo was there and Marmoush was there and Matheus was there."

Guardiola added: "He has to improve. He has improved a lot (already) and he will improve. At the moment he makes the action in one speed, and with his decision-making he has to reduce the speed. You can not make a one-against-one in the moment, the pass has to be relaxed. You have to see. Otherwise, the cross is not good and we are not going to score a goal. But he is 23, 24-years old (22) and he has something unique in terms of his speed."

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