Pep Guardiola explains upbeat verdict on Man City players despite 0-0 draw

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has praised his players as they came away with a draw from FC Copenhagen despite being down to 10 men for most of the contest.

The Blues thought that they had taken the lead just after 10 minutes when Rodri hammered home an unbelievable strike past Kabil Grabara. However, VAR pulled the referee over to the monitor to show him a handball by Riyad Mahrez in the build-up.

Rodri's stunner was ruled out, but City had VAR to thank 15 minutes later when it spotted a handball from Nicolai Boilesen in the area. Mahrez stepped up but his shot was saved by Grabara.

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City went down by a man just five minutes later when Sergio Gomez tugged down Copenhagen's Hakon Haraldsson, denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. The referee once again didn't spot the incident in real time and was advised to go to his monitor where he chose to send off the Blues defender.

In the second half, both sides seemed happy to take the point and City would share the spoils with the Danes. A victory would have seen them instantly qualify for the knockout stages but despite dropping points, Guardiola praised his players for their fight.

"We started well when we had a 11, when we had 10 we resist," the Catalan boss told BT Sport. "When we had the ball, we were clever didn’t push much. A good point, not mathematically but we have almost qualified for the next round and that’s the main target.

"[The players adapted] Really well, they are too good. When they are so good they read the situation.

"If we should lose the two games, if Sevilla won the two or three they have in hand and beat us 5-0 at home. Anything is possible in football, not mathematically [qualified] but we are