Guardiola hopeful De Bruyne injury 'not serious'

Manchester, Novmber 2: Pep Guardiola is hopeful a late injury suffered by Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne in Thursday's EFL Cup win over Fulham is not serious.

The Belgium international suffered an injury to his right knee in August that kept him out for two months and he made only his second start since then against Fulham.

He managed to play most of the match, which City comfortably won 2-0, but was forced off late on after Timothy Fosu-Mensah fell on him in a tangle.

De Bruyne appeared to indicate his left knee was the issue and City wasted no time in withdrawing him.

Guardiola is unsure of the true extent of the issue, but he is optimistic it is only a minor problem.

"Kevin is being checked by the doctors," Guardiola told reporters. "I don't know [how serious it is]. We don't know if it's nothing or if it's something serious."

"I think today Kevin is back, the Kevin we know. He made a huge effort against Shakhtar [Donetsk, in the Champions League], played a few minutes against Tottenham in difficult conditions.

"Today [against Fulham] he was involved in offence and defence, hopefully what happened in the last minute is not serious."

Brahim Diaz was arguably the star of the show, however, as the 19-year-old Spaniard scored both goals for City to book the EFL Cup holders' place in the last eight.

I always wondered how it would sound having my name chanted from the stands after scoring a goal. Now I have done it. Twice. And it’s unreal. Thank you for all your messages! On to the next round! pic.twitter.com/Qd8auCCVCq

— Brahim (@Brahim) November 1, 2018

The midfielder has less than a year left on his contract and Guardiola is eager to see him remain at the Etihad Stadium.

"Everybody was good," Guardiola said. "Brahim made two goals, Aro [Arijanet Muric] got a clean sheet - we didn't concede too many chances, he gave us good security. Phil Foden - every time he plays a good level.

"We will do absolutely everything to keep Brahim with us, after he decides [on his future]. We want him, but at the end it doesn't depend on us [the club]."