Pep Guardiola picked out an unusual "man of the match" after Manchester City fought through a blizzard to beat West Ham at the Etihad Stadium today.
The game was in slight doubt at half time after light snowfall before the game turned much heavier during the first half of the Premier League encounter, leaving a layer of snow lying on the surface.
With City leading 1-0 at half time through an Ilkay Gundogan goal, referee Michael Oliver was concerned enough to make an inspection of the pitch, but the Blues ground staff had set about clearing the snow, although the re-start was delayed briefly while they finished the job.
At the end of the game, Guardiola broke off from his round of media duties at pitchside to walk over to the ground staff, still busy at work on repairing divots, and thank them for their efforts, along with a big thumbs-up.
And he said afterwards that they were "men of the match".
Guardiola said he had not spoken to the officials at half time: "I never speak with the referees, before, during or after. He decided.
"The ground keepers were the men of the match. They did an incredible job to get the game on today. "
And he said he did not urge his team to make any changes to their usual slick passing style, despite the dangers of the ball holding up on a difficult surface.
"Both teams played in the same conditions. You have to adapt, don't take a rest, more sure passes but no, in the same way. "
