Nico O’Reilly helped change the game for Manchester City against Bournemouth | OneFootball

As Manchester City went into halftime trailing Bournemouth 1-nil at the Vitality Stadium yesterday they needed to lift to keep their hopes of picking up silverware this season alive. In a bid to add life to City’s play, Pep Guardiola replaced Abdukodir Khusanov with Nico O’Reilly at halftime. The young midfielder slotted in at left-back for the second half. He proceeded to put in a match-winning performance to help Manchester City pick up a 2-1 win over the Cherries. In the process of helping City turn around the FA Cup quarter-final tie, Nico O’Reilly showed that he is ready for a bigger role at Manchester City going forward.

Nico O’Reilly made an immediate impact off the bench at the Vitality Stadium yesterday. His rampaging run down the left was picked out by Kevin De Bruyne. O’Reilly then played in a sublime ball for Erling Haaland to equalise in the 49th minute. With O’Reilly on the pitch, Pep Guardiola’s side had a dangerous attacking weapon on the left-hand side. O’Reilly would also play a key role in Omar Marmoush’s 63rd-minute winner. His will and fight was on display as he seized upon an Ilkay Gundogan pass. He then played in a superb ball to Marmoush. The Egyptian international gave City the lead, and O’Reilly picked up two crucial assists.

Nico O’Reilly was also strong defensively at the Vitality Stadium. He helped his team successfully neutralize any threat of Bournemouth in the second half. What his all-around performance showed is that the young midfielder is ready for a bigger role in Pep Guardiola’s squad.

Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Nico O’Reilly’s performance.

Speaking after his team’s win Pep Guardiola was full of praise for the impact Nico O’Reilly made in his team’s win. Guardiola said that O’Reilly’s key attributes to his play were crucial to his team’s come-from-behind victory. Speaking on O’Reilly’s performance, Guardiola said: “Against Plymouth, he scored two goals. Today, he made the assists. He played really good. He’s a number 10, we cannot forget. But he has the pace, he is so intelligent and quality with the ball. In the final third he has vision. He played really good and had an impact.”

Nico O’Reilly helped change yesterday’s game for Manchester City. The young midfielder showed that he is more than ready for a more prominent role in Pep Guardiola’s squad. There comes a moment in every young players career when they do arrive on the biggest stage. That appears to have come yesterday for O’Reilly. His performance showed that he is ready to feature more prominently for Manchester City and with his size and technical ability he could add a different dimension to their play for the remainder of this season and beyond.