Future looks in good Nic with O'Reilly

AS weekends go, it was a pretty good one for Nico O'Reilly. He signed a new five-year contract at City on Friday and the Blues then won 5-1 on Saturday to maintain his remarkable record in this team.

- By TYRONE MARSHALL

O'Reilly was the breakthrough star of last season, edging his way into the team during a difficult campaign and he is becoming something of a lucky charm.

The win against Burnley was the ninth Premier League start of his career, of which seven have been won and two drawn. In total, he has won 15 and lost just two of his 20 starts in all competitions and one of those came right at the very start, in the Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham last year in a much-changed team.

An attacking midfielder by trade, he looks at home as a left-back and Guardiola had been studying the stats regarding O'Reilly, which was part of the reason he was so keen to tie him down to a new contract.

"I think since he started to play, we lost just one game, the FA Cup final against [Crystal] Palace," he said. "When he's not been involved it was defeats all the time.