Pep Guardiola hailed the performance of his young centre-back pairing after they withstood an aerial onslaught from Oxford in our 3-1 Carabao Cup victory.
Eric Garcia and Taylor Harwood-Bellis played together at the heart of the City defence and had to deal with a number of long balls into the City box.
And they did so admirably, giving us a platform to win the game and move through to the semi-final of the Carabao Cup for the third season running.
“With the second balls and throw ins - Oxford are incredibly tall and are good at set pieces,” Guardiola said. “In these kind of leagues, they work well in these situations.
“But Eric and Taylor contained the attacks incredibly.
“It was really tough. Winter is here! They are aggressive. Lasts season they played good and this season they were better.
“Cup competitions in England are always really tough.”
Watch Pep’s full press conference via the video above!
