By Rosemary Ugiomoh
Pep Guardiola confirmed Nico Gonzalez will be in contention for Saturday’s FA Cup final, but he stopped short of giving the same assurance for Rodri.
Both midfielders sat out City’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, a result that keeps their Premier League title chase alive. Guardiola made six changes for the Palace game, a clear signal that the FA Cup is the focus for City’s final two weeks. Even so, he still couldn’t bring Rodri back into the fold.
The Spanish midfielder hasn’t featured or even made the bench since the Arsenal win last month, sidelined by a groin issue. It’s still up in the air whether he’ll return before the season wraps up.
Gonzalez, by contrast, should be hoping for minutes at Wembley. He scored the decisive goal in the semi-final against Southampton, but was left out of the squad for Palace despite being fit. Guardiola opted for Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden in midfield, with Mateo Kovacic coming on later.
“He’s fine, but I have to leave a lot of players out because the whole squad is ready, and sometimes they’re there,” Guardiola explained. “Nico got us to the FA Cup final with that fantastic goal, and he’s played that role all season. But in the last game I really liked how Bernie played there, so I went with him again.”
The win puts City two points behind Arsenal with two league games left. Arsenal host Burnley on Monday, then City travel to Bournemouth the next day to try and end the Cherries’ 16-game unbeaten run.
Crystal Palace could still influence the title race when they host Arsenal on the final day, but that hinges on what happens midweek. City close out their campaign at home to Aston Villa, who will have played a Europa League final just days earlier.
