Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 7y

Fernandinho: Gabriel Jesus shone for City in Manchester derby cameo

MANCHESTER -- Gabriel Jesus demonstrated his huge promise in his brief appearance in the 0-0 Manchester derby draw, Manchester City teammate Fernandinho has said.

Gabriel, 20, made his first appearance in 10 weeks as a late substitute against Manchester United after recovering from the broken foot that wrecked his superb start after arriving in January.

The Brazilian came on as an 86th-minute substitute and thought he had snatched the only goal of the game with a near post header, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

He had scored three times in his first three appearances before the injury, and Fernandinho told reporters: "He really wanted to play and come back and I'm very happy for him.

"It [the injury] kind of rocked him a bit, and the rest of the players. But after two months he's coming back and he's able to play so we are happy for him.

"And once again he was able to shine and score a goal. Unfortunately it was offside, but it's still important because strikers need to score so at least it helps his confidence."

City were left disappointed with a 0-0 draw after dominating the game against United, who had Marouane Fellaini sent off just before Gabriel was brought on.

The point keeps them in the top four, but Fernandinho said it was a missed opportunity to tighten their grip on a Champions League spot.

City have won just half of their 16 games at home, and Fernandinho said they needed to be more ruthless.

"A win would have been ideal, so we could increase the distance to a direct rival," the midfielder added.

"We created a few chances but we weren't efficient enough to get the goal and the win. They defended quite well and unfortunately it stayed 0-0.

"We started the season a bit better, scoring a lot of goals and winning games. But then after that we had lot of possession and made opportunities but we weren't able to convert them.

"That made it a bit more difficult for us, especially at home where we drew a lot of games and lost some points.

"But we want to try to improve in the last five games. We've got to get as many points as we can to guarantee Champions League qualification."

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