'Too much risk' - Pep Guardiola explains Man City double half-time change

Manchester City never planned to give Ruben Dias more than a half against Leyton Orient and didn't want to leave both of their two new defenders exposed.

That was the thinking behind a double change at the break as Pep Guardiola's side trailed Leyton Orient. John Stones and Abdukodir Khusanov came on for Dias and Vitor Reis and both played a part in turning potential defeat into an important victory for City; Khusanov deflected Rico Lewis's shot in for the equaliser and Stones helped the visitors to take control at Brisbane Road after a raucous start.

Guardiola did not have worries about the fitness or performance of either Dias or Reis, but having not played since picking up an injury against Paris Saint-Germain the club did not want to overwork Dias ahead of the visit of Real Madrid on Tuesday. With that change always booked in, Reis was taken off to give Khusanov the opportunity to bed himself into the team.

"The plan was for Ruben just 45 minutes after coming from injury and I didn't want to play the two new players at the same time," said Guardiola. "It would have been too much risk. I wanted one alongside Ruben and one John - John was amazing in the second half."

City's manager applauded the home fans as he made his way off the pitch at the end of the 2-1 victory over the League One side. While he had to put up with more chants of being sacked in the morning, it was another memorable day out in the FA Cup for a coach who has won it all.

"Fantastic. When they say you're getting sacked in the morning, it's a routine in all the stadiums right now!" he said. "With this result, I think my chairman is not going to sack me.

"But it was really good. I don't know if the vibe is like this in League One every single game but