The Brazilian made just his second start following his January switch from Palmeiras and came through a tough battle against the Championship side who had knocked out Brentford and Liverpool before the fifth round clash at the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola is short of central defensive options with John Stones and Manuel Akanji ruled out for the upcoming weeks through injury, while Ake went off at half-time against Plymouth.
But he is delighted by the impact of Reis and fellow new arrival Abdukodir Khusanov with Ruben Dias the only other senior defender available.
CITY 3-1 PLYMOUth | match gallery
“Now again we have central defenders out,” Pep said following our win. “I think we are going to miss Nathan.
“I’m so grateful to the club for bringing Vitor and Khusanov to the club otherwise we would not have any chance to qualify for the Champions League next season or fight for the FA Cup; we would have just Ruben.
“It’s a miracle they are here to help us because the problems we have, have happened all season.
“The mood is good. I have a feeling in the last month we have been much better. Against Liverpool we played really good. Against Chelsea really good. Forget about Madrid, they were better. We were miles away from where we could expect to be.
“Step-by-step, I see good things, everybody is connected. We are going to do the battles to be in the Champions League next season.”
Watch Pep’s postmatch press conference in the video player above...
