Enzo Maresca said he is "very happy" with Gianluigi Donnarumma and urged his Manchester City teammates to reduce passes back to the goalkeeper after he endured a nervous performance during a 2-0 Champions League win against FC Porto in Portugal.
Two second-half goals from Erling Haaland in Estádio do Dragão ensured a winning start to the league phase for the Premier League team ahead of their clash with reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain on matchday two next month.
But former AC Milan and PSG No. 1 Donnarumma looked uncomfortable throughout the game and almost conceded an embarrassing goal when a clearance rebounded off Porto winger William Gomes before bouncing narrowly wide of the post.
And after the Italy international came close to conceding a goal by letting the ball run under his feet in Saturday's 1-0 win against Coventry City, Maresca said that he has no concerns over his first-choice keeper and blamed the rest of the team for giving him the ball too often.
"I think a few times tonight it's not a Gigio [Donnarumma] mistake, it's more for me the wrong decision to go back to Gigio," Maresca said. "Sometimes we go back more than we need.
"We can go back to the keeper when we don't have another option, but the players need to find the other option.
"For me, Donnarumma was top against Coventry, he made some important saves.
"Against Coventry, there was probably the mistake where we almost conceded a goal, but that was a wrong mistake from Khusa [Abdukhodir Khusanov] to go back to Gigio. So I am very happy with Gigio."
Maresca gave summer signing Ayyoub Bouaddi his first City start alongside £125 million arrival Enzo Fernández against the Portuguese champions.
And the City manager said that the Morocco international showed why the club sealed an £85 million deal to sign the 18-year-old from Lille.
"He [Bouaddi] is different in terms of empathy, in terms of how mature he is and this is why the club has made the effort to bring him here with us.
"He's very good, first of all. Against Coventry, he lost two balls and after he lost two balls he was inside our box with calm.
"This shows how good he is because any players after two passes you panic but he is just 18 and is a fantastic player.
"Tonight he was very good. You expect that from Erling [Haaland], Ruben [Dias], Mateo [Kovacic], that they can manage these kind of games better but you don't expect it from a guy of 18. Congratulations to Ayyoub, and this is why he's here with us.
"The club has made a fantastic effort to bring these three players [Enzo, Bouaddi, Elliot Anderson]. Now it's on me to allow them to work in the right way and use them."
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