Slovan Bratislava 0, Manchester City 4
Phil Foden scored one and made one as Manchester City cantered to a first win in the revamped Champions League this term at Slovan Bratislava.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe scoreline could have should have been a lot heavier in Slovakia as City missed a host of chances and hit the woodwork three times as they missed the chance to pad their goal difference after a good performance without talismanic midfielder Rodri in the side.
City boss Pep Guardiola selected Ilkay Gundogan and Matheus Nunes as the players to replace their world class defensive midfielder but the Blues could have been a goal down after Marko Tolic missed a golden chance to bloody the nose of their illustrious visitors early in the game..
Too bad it didn’t as City shrugged off that slow start to get a good lead up – Ilkay Gundogan got City scored a deflected goal after just 8 minutes of the game while Foden got on the scoresheet after just 15 minutes, showing the kind of form that got him named the PFA Player Of the Year last season.
But injury and illness have hampered Foden’s game time this season – with injuries to Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri keeping them out of the side his manager has been careful to manage the fitness of his squad.
Jeremy Doku, Foden, and Gundogan then all hit the woodwork as City failed to press home the advantage against their modest opponents who were captained by an emotional ex-City player Vladimir Weiss.
But they didn’t make the game safe until 58 minutes when Erling Haaland slotted home his 11th goal of the season after rounding the ‘keeper Dominik Takac.
James McAtee then scored his first City goal after 74 minutes – laid on by Foden as Pep Guardiola’s side belatedly got the bare minimum their performance deserved – they certainly had enough in the tank to go up a gear or two and the manager knew it.