Manchester City 0, Bayer Leverkusen 2 (UEFA Champions League)
Alex Grimaldo and Patrick Schick did the damage against a second string Manchester City side who couldn’t beat ex-Brentford keeper Mark Flekken with what few attacks they could muster against a counter attacking German side.
Mark Flekken saved from Nathan Ake and Omar Marmoush as City failed to make the most of their early territorial dominance.
Bayer Leverkusen were content to hold City at bay while relying on counter attacks and they made an early one count midway through the first half when they switched the attack from right to left a Christian Kofane’s lay off was capitalised on by Leverkusen captain Alex Grimaldo lashed home the opener from 11 yards out after 23 minutes.
Things got worse for the toothless Blues as Patrick Schick capitalised on some poor defending to head home the second for Leverkusen after 54 minutes.
Flekken came to the rescue of his side several times in a man of the match performance but in truth Pep Guardiola’s ten changes from the side that were defeated at Newcastle at the weekend didn’t help either.
Embed from Getty ImagesPLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 0, Bayer Leverkusen 2 (UEFA Champions League)
James Trafford: 6. Exposed by some average defending. Mistake in second half by John Stones could have been punished.
Abdudokir Khusanov: 6. Needs more time to get back up to speed.
John Stones: 6. Crisp passing but big clanger in second half went unpunished.
Nathan Ake: 6. Close range effort tipped away by Mark Flekken. Misjudged a cross allowing Patrick Schick to get in a header and score.
Rayan Ait-Nouri: 6. Did a good defensive job. Shooting could be improved though.
Nico Gonzalez: 6. Dictated matters in midfield and created some decent chances..
Tijjani Reijnders: 6. Anonymous in first half but a late mazy run and shot got saved by Mark Flekken. Little impact on midfield.
Rico Lewis: 6. Good control but offered little going forward.
Oscar Bobb: 6. Always available on the right flank, good footwork but didn’t take on his man enough though and that was enough to see him hooked.
Savinho: 6. Tentative from the left flank. Not much better from the right. Little end product despite some dribbles.
Omar Marmoush: 6. Tried to gee up the fans after slow start. Denied by Mark Flekken.
Jeremy Doku (on for Oscar Bobb, 46): 6. Showed flashes of talent coming in from the left but no end product.
Phil Foden (on for Rico Lewis, 46): 6. Pushed a bit further up but saw a shot blocked. Through passes wasted and a slip in injury time summed up his cameo.
Nico O’Reilly (on for Rayan Ait-Nouri, 46): 6. Shot straight at Mark Flekken.
Erling Haaland (on for Omar Marmoush, 65): 6 Headed wide – looked a little sluggish. Great chance saved by Mark Flekken one on one and skied another superb chance
Rayan Cherki (on for Abdudokir Khusanov, 65): 6. Not much came off for him. Free kick with 5 minutes to go pushed away by Mark Flekken
GOALS – Manchester City 0, Bayer Leverkusen 2 (UEFA Champions League)
Man City 0, Bayer Leverkusen 1: 23. Alex Grimaldo opened the scoring, lashing home the loose ball after it was laid off by Christian Kofane from 11 yards out.
Man City 0, Bayer Leverkusen 2: 54. Patrick Schick got the better of Nathan Ake to head home a left wing cross from Ibrajima Maza and double the visitors lead
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 0, Bayer Leverkusen 2 (UEFA Champions League)
Man City: Trafford, Khusanov (Cherki 65), Stones (C), Ake, Ait-Nouri (O’Reilly 46), Gonzalez, Reijnders, Lewis (Foden 46), Bobb (Doku 46), Savinho, Marmoush (Haaland 65)
Man City Subs not used: Bettinelli, Donnarumma, Dias, Silva, Gvardiol, Nunes
Bayer Leverkusen: Flekken, Quansah, Bade, Belocian, Poku, Garcia, Maza, Grimaldo (C), Tillman, Kofane (Tella 83), Schick
Bayer Leverkusen Subs not used: Lomb, Schlich, Schererei, Ben Seghir, J Mensah, Culbreath, Hawighorst, N Mensah, Pohl
Bookings: Grimaldo 60 (foul on Savinho); Kofane 78 (foul on Jeremy Doku)
Goals: Grimaldo 23; Schick 54
Referee: Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)