Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has defended the showing of debut keeper Claudio Bravo in Saturday's win over Manchester United by claiming that it was "one of the best performances I have ever seen".
The summer signing from Barcelona was surprisingly brought in for his first appearance at Old Trafford, despite training with his new teammates for just two days.
United were keen to target the Chile international at every opportunity, launching high balls into the box which Bravo at times struggled to deal with, particularly in the build-up to the Red Devils' consolation strike.
Bravo fumbled a simple cross to gift Zlatan Ibrahimovic a goal, while also lunging in on Wayne Rooney studs first when losing possession later in the game, but Guardiola himself was delighted with what he saw from his first-choice stopper in the eventual 2-1 derby win.
"What Claudio did was one of the best performances I've ever seen," he told reporters. "I like goalkeepers to play in front and after that [Ibrahimovic] goal, he continued playing in our build-up, playing long balls and coming out to pick it up. In football, it's about how you react to mistakes - it shows character.
"He continued playing. It means a lot. The way we train and the way we play has given me a lot of confidence. We played good in the first half because of Claudio. I like the keepers to attack the ball and after what happened, in the second half he continued to play and that's a good thing about his personality.
"He was one of the reasons we played well in the first half. Yeah [if you pass the ball from the back] it can be too risky; if you lose the ball they will score but you can control the game. Until my last day in England I will try to play with the ball as much as possible. I know it's impossible for 90 minutes but I'm sorry, I will not negotiate that."
Bravo's arrival at City during the international break paved the way for fan favourite Joe Hart to leave for Torino, where he will spend the season on loan.
Daniel Lewis
