Manchester City started the Champions League by losing 0-0 at Inter, they beat Slovan Bratislava (0-4) and now they beat Sparta Prague 5-0 at the Etihad, putting them in third place in league with 7 points two of the leaders Aston Villa and Liverpool.
a fight, Ilkay Gündogan’s 100th in the Champions League, which will be remembered for the amazing purpose of Erling Haalandthe first of the two he scored, with an acrobatic shot that turned the back of the goal that decisively defeated a Sparta that until then had resisted ‘citizen’ harassment.
Only five field substitutes
SA Pep Guardiola He barely had five field players left on the bench, just enough to exhaust the changes, due to the usual defeat Walker, Rodri, De Bruyne and Bobbto join Grealish and Doku, not called. Between the sticks, like in the 0-4 against Slovan, he continued Stefan Ortega in place of starter Ederson.
The city, despite the losses, entered the game like a storm and Phil Foden barely needed three minutes to open the bookmark. The English playmaker, who is slowly getting his best form, accepted Manuel Akanji In the middle, he left two rivals and, once in the area, he put a cross shot that kissed the net.
Foden scored early but victory was a long time coming
That the 1-0 score came soon suggested a defeat, but it took a while to arrive. Furthermore, City didn’t allow Sparta to breathe in the first 20 minutes with absolute ball control and suffocating pressure that allowed them to regain possession in the blink of an eye.
Peter Vindahl He supported his team, especially when he responded with a save in a header from Haaland (10′). Another trademark header from the home Norwegian was cleared off the line by a defender just before half-time, when City slowed down a bit, Sparta took a breather and immediately launched a counterattack that Ortega insisted to deflect with his fingertips a cross kick from Veljo Birmancevic.
Even so before the break Vindal was disappointed with Foden by repelling his shot from the front.
Haaland Festival
After passing through the locker room, City turned their attention again. It’s the 47th minute Nathan Aké had a goal disallowed after the rebound of his first shot bounced off his arm. Viindahl parried another header from Haaland but he couldn’t stop it.
Before game time, Savinho starred in a great internship to the right and put a cross in place. Another player would not have arrived but Haaland scored a spectacular goal by finishing the spur ball, with his back to the goal, with an acrobatic jump. No words.
Matheus Nunes, two assists and a goal
Having already left the City by removing doubts, John Stones scored 3-0 with the header placed in the middle Matheus Nunes (64′). Portuguese too assisted Haaland in a counterattack, who cut through a defender before placing the ball near the post (4-0, 68′).
Matheus Nunes completed his great game establishment of hand by inflicting punishment committed by Angelo Preciado and change it flawlessly. The Portuguese’s performance is, apart from Haaland, the best news for Guardiola.
match lineup
18
82
6
19
5
25
26
47
9
20
27
1
17
32
25
27
41
6
20
7
14
22
Etihad Stadium
Peter Vindahl1
Angelo Preciado17
86′
46′
73′
Matej Rynes32
87′
68′
Asger Sorensen25
6′
63′
73′
Filip Panák27
Martin Vitík41
Eat Kairinen6
88′
2′
Qazim Laçi20
57′
67′
80′
Victor Olatunji7
59′
68′
Veljko Birmancevic14
73′
87′
Lukas Haraslin22
45′
Replacements
Vojtech Vorel24
Jakub Surovcík44
73′
Martin Suchomel2
73′
Mathias Ross5
68′
Thomas Wiesner28
87′
80′
Markus Solbakken4
88′
68′
David Pavelka8
Krystof Danek13
73′
Lukas Sadilek18
Jakub Pesek21
Ermal Krasniqi29
45′
Albion Rrahmani10
59′
coach
Pep Guardiola
Lars Friis
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
