Why Nico Gonzalez missed Manchester City squad for Crystal Palace win, as explained by Pep Guardiola

The Blues will shift their focus to the FA Cup final this weekend as they come up against Chelsea at Wembley, where they picked up their first piece of silverware in two seasons in March by beating Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final.

Man City 3-0 Crystal Palace: As it happened

Guardiola had spoken about needing to shuffle his pack in the final fortnight of the campaign as City vie for a domestic treble and retain slim hopes of usurping Arsenal to a ninth Premier League crown.

The Manchester City manager made six changes to his starting XI against Crystal Palace from last week’s 3-0 win over Brentford, with Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku starting on the bench ahead of the FA Cup final.

Cherki came on and set up Savinho for a brilliant third Manchester City goal as Rodri remained absent due to injury, nursing a calf issue sustained in the closing minutes of April’s 2-1 league win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

Nico O’Reilly was also a surprise absence from the matchday squad, with Abdukodir Khusanov back in the lineup after missing the win over Brentford and Josko Gvardiol making his first start since recovering from a tibial fracture suffered in January.

Pep explains Nico Gonzalez absence against Crystal Palace

Asked about why Gonzalez was missing from the matchday squad in his post-match press conference on Wednesday night, Guardiola said: “Yeah he’s fine but I have to leave a lot of players out because we are the whole squad ready – and sometimes they’re there.

Pep Guardiola issues career advice to Nico Gonzalez as Manchester City avoid Southampton FA Cup scare

“Nico, he brings us to the Final of the FA Cup, right? With his fantastic goal (in the FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton) and all season, he’s played that position.

“But in the last game (against Brentford) I saw Bernie (Bernardo Silva), I liked a lot how he played there and that’s why there I decided to do it again.”

Gonzalez is expected to travel as part of the Manchester City squad to London on Friday as the Blues bid for a second cup title of the season against Chelsea at Wembley.