Pep Guardiola quipped that James McAtee is "adorable" after the youngster netted his first Manchester City goal.
McAtee, who has spent most of the past two seasons on loan at Sheffield United, came on from the bench to score City's fourth in their 4-0 rout of Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday.
It was McAtee's second appearance in the Champions League, two years and 206 days since his debut in the competition – that is the longest gap between a Man City player's first and second outing in the competition.
"We are so happy with him, he's adorable, and all the guys love him," Guardiola said of the 21-year-old City academy graduate.
"McAtee moved really well in small spaces, made a fantastic goal, had another chance, and for him will be a good boost, we want to make him feel he is part of that group."
Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring for City in the eighth minute, with Phil Foden netting a second before Erling Haaland made it 3-0.
"The group of players are fantastic, we played a good game, a lot of chances and the first three points of the competition," said Guardiola, whose team were held to a goalless draw by Inter in their opening match.
"Win your games it will be enough. We got the first victory to [move up] the table a little bit higher than we were, so it's nice."
Since his debut in the competition for City in September 2022, Erling Haaland has scored more goals in the Champions League than any other player, netting 19 goals in just 22 appearances for the Citizens.
Foden, meanwhile, is one of four players to have scored in each of the last seven Champions League campaigns (since 2018-19) along with Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.
And Guardiola thought last year's Premier League Player of the Year was much more like himself after a slow start to the season from his perspective.
"Made a fantastic goal, just passed the ball to the post, always I say 'Pass the ball to the post, not shoot, and you'll have more chances'," Guardiola said.
"Step by step, it is coming back."
City are now unbeaten in each of their last 25 Champions League games (W17 D8), the joint-longest run without defeat in European Cup/UEFA Champions history, level with Manchester United between September 2007 and May 2009.
Guardiola has to 'take care' of Man City superstar Haaland
Pep Guardiola took off Erling Haaland against Slovan Bratislava to "take care" of Manchester City's superstar striker.
Haaland scored in the 58th minute to make it 3-0 to City in Slovakia on Tuesday.
He was taken off two minutes later, to be replaced by James McAtee, who went on to score his first City goal and round off a 4-0 Champions League rout.
With focus now switching back to the Premier League, and Saturday's clash with Fulham, Guardiola explained the substitution was made to protect the striker, who has already netted 10 goals in England's top flight this season.
Asked if Haaland had been frustrated to be taken off, Guardiola told City's media channels: "Erling is never disappointed with his manager.
"As a manager I am more secure and more happy when Erling is on the pitch.
"I will keep him on the pitch all the time but at 0-3 the game was almost over and with this amount of games we have to take care of him.
"He had a big knock in the last game against Newcastle [United] so that's why, after the fantastic goal with the pass from Rico [Lewis], it was better [to take him off]."
There was a moment of drama during Fulham's 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest last week, after Raul Jimenez took a penalty off the club's designated taker Andreas Pereira.
Jimenez went on to score the penalty, but Marco Silva was not happy.
He said: "It's clearly the fault of Raul. It is not going to happen again.
"Has Raul apologised? Yes. He had to because he knows the rules and how important discipline is in our squad."
City are unbeaten in their last 29 Premier League games (W23 D6), and if they avoid defeat in this match it will equal their longest run without defeat in their league history (30 games between April 2017 and January 2018).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester City - Erling Haaland
Haaland has scored 60 goals in just 52 games in all competitions at the Etihad Stadium for Man City. He is already the fourth-highest goalscorer at the ground since it opened in 2003.
Fulham - Andreas Pereira
Only Everton's Dwight McNeil (21) has created more chances than Pereira in the Premier League this season (20).
Five of these chances have been for Rodrigo Muniz, who has had more shots on target without scoring so far than any other player in the Premier League this term (five).
MATCH PREDICTION: MAN CITY WIN
City have drawn their last two Premier League games despite opening the scoring in both (2-2 v Arsenal, 1-1 v Newcastle). The last time they failed to win three consecutive league games despite scoring first in each was in December/January in 2003-04 (D2 L1).
Since losing their opening Premier League game of the season 1-0 at Manchester United, Fulham are now unbeaten in their last five (W3 D2). They last had a longer run without defeat in the competition between August and October 2010 (seven).
Three of Fulham’s four Premier League wins against City have come at the Etihad Stadium (2006, 2008 and 2009). However, they are winless in their last 18 against them in the league (D3 L15), losing each of the last 13 in a row.
City have won each of their last 16 meetings with Fulham in all competitions, the longest winning run one English league side has had against another in history.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Man City - 72.6%
Fulham - 11.5%
Draw - 15.9%
In-form McNeil releshing central role at Everton
Dwight McNeil is relishing playing in a central role in Everton's attack, as he aims to get Sean Dyche's team up the Premier League.
McNeil scored twice in the space of seven minutes, with his first being a wonderful strike from outside of the box, as Everton came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Saturday.
That marked the Toffees' first league win of the season, with Newcastle United next up at Goodison Park.
McNeil, who scored and assisted in Everton's 3-0 win in the corresponding fixture against Newcastle last season, has created 21 chances in the Premier League in 2024-25, more than any other player. Only Bukayo Saka (nine) and Cole Palmer (seven) have created more big chances than the 24-year-old's six, too.
His form has picked up since moving from the left flank into a role behind striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and McNeil is enjoying the positional switch.
McNeil told evertonfc.com: "Every time I've played centrally I've enjoyed it, because I feel like I'm always involved in the game.
"I've really enjoyed it. I know there is still a lot of work to be done – in and out of possession – for me to improve in that position, but I'm doing that in every game. For me, I've always found the best way I learn and improve is by actually playing and experiencing it for real.
"The stats, I don't really focus on them. For me, I think stats, at times, can overshadow what players actually do on the pitch. I find stats difficult because rule number one for me is to always just play well, and I know myself if I've done that or not. If I'm playing well and enjoying my football, all of that stuff comes with it.
"My focus will always be on playing well, helping the team in any way I can and enjoying it, and, of course, getting on a winning run. That's the biggest thing for me – helping the team win games."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Everton - Ashley Young
Young has assisted a goal in each of his last two Premier League appearances, which is as many assists as he got in his previous 117 games combined.
At the age of 39, Young is the oldest player in Premier League history to assist a goal in consecutive games.
Newcastle United - Anthony Gordon
Former Everton winger Gordon has been involved in 13 goals in 23 Premier League appearances in 2024 for Newcastle (seven goals, six assists).
However, Gordon is yet to score or assist against his old club and has only scored one goal in his last 15 games at Goodison Park, which came against Crystal Palace in October 2022.
MATCH PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE WIN
Everton have lost just three of their last 20 Premier League home games against Newcastle (W12 D5), though two of those defeats have come across their last four such meetings (W2), including a 4-1 victory at Goodison Park in April 2023.
Newcastle have won five of their last eight Premier League meetings with Everton (D1 L2), as many as in their previous 24 against them (D6 L13). However, they failed to win either meeting with the Toffees last term (D1 L1).
Only Aston Villa and Manchester City (seven) have picked up more points from losing positions in the Premier League this season than Newcastle (five) – the Magpies have only lost two of their last seven games when conceding first (W2 D3), having lost 11 of their previous 13 games when going 1-0 down.
After losing their first four Premier League matches this season, Everton have picked up four points in their last two games (W1 D1). Dyche's side are looking for consecutive wins for the first time since April.
Newcastle have won 11 points in their six Premier League games this season (W3 D2 L1), their most at this stage of a top-flight season since 2011-12 (12) and Eddie Howe’s best start to a league season since 2010-11 in League One with Bournemouth (11 points).
Everton have won six of their last eight Premier League matches at Goodison Park (L2). Since the first game in this run on April 6, the Toffees have won more home points than any other Premier League side (18).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Everton - 30.9%
Newcastle - 43.9%
Draw - 25.2%
Dom Rep’s Cibao, Moca take unbeaten records into Carib Cup semis after contrasting wins in final group fixtures
Domincan Republic’s Cibao FC and Moca FC will take their rich vein of form into the semi-finals of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup as both closed out the group stages with contrasting 4-1 and 2-1 victories over Haiti’s Ouanaminthe FC and Antiguan outfit Grenades FC on Tuesday.
The results saw both teams consolidating their hold on the top two spots in Group B with unbeaten records. They ended on 10 points each, but Cibao FC took group honours by virtue of a slightly better goal difference.
Port of Spain, Grenades, and Ouanaminthe all ended on two points each in that exact order.
As they have done since the start of the tournament, Cibao FC demonstrated class and quality in making light work of Ouanaminthe at Estadio Cibao FC.
After bossing possession from the onset, Cibao eventually broke the deadlock courtesy of Eddipo Rodriguez, who fired home in the 33rd from Jean Lopez’s service.
Before Ouanaminthe could catch their breaths, they were hit again, as Carlos Heredia doubled Cibao’s lead with a tidy finish in the 37th after dispossessing a defender.
Cibao picked up where they left off on the resumption and pushed the game beyond Ouanaminthe’s reach when Rivaldo Correa drove home a right-footer from the top of the 18-yard box to make it 3-0.
Moca's Guillermo de Pena celebrates the winning goal against Grenades FC.
Ouanaminthe pulled one back in the 55th through Dave Altidor Jr, who fired home from close range.
However, that strike proved to be a mere consolation as Luis Quezada tucked away a calm left-footed effort to complete Cibao’s win.
Meanwhile, Moca produced a come-from-behind performance to top Grenades at Estadio Moca 85.
After playing out a goalless first half, Kamol Griffith latched on to a cross from Malcolm Stewart to put Grenades ahead in the 50th minute.
But the lead was short-lived as Gustavo Ascona expertly headed home from Clifford Thomas’ weighted cross in the 53rd to pull Moca FC level.
Guillermo de Pena completed Moca FC’s comeback when he finished off a well-worked training ground-style build up from a set play in the 61st minute.
Moca went down to 10 players when Carlos Russell picked up a second yellow in the 76th minute, and the numerical disadvantage allowed Grenades FC to attempt a rally in the latter stages of the contest.
However, Moca’s captain and goalkeeper Miguel Baez pulled off a stunning save to deny Keanu Barrett’s effort from a distance to ensure his team came away with all three points.
Cibao FC will face the Group A runner-up, while Moca FC await the Group A winner. Those spots are to be decided between currently leaders Jamaica’s Cavaliers (six points), Haiti’s Real Hope (five points) and another Jamaican outfit Mount Pleasant FA (four points).
Cavalier are set to tackle out-of-contention Arnett Gardens on Thursday, at the same time that Mount Pleasant and Real Hope will lock horns in what should be mouth-watering clash.
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