Manchester City roared to an emphatic 4-0 victory over Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday evening.
In a game which was rarely a real contest, City roared into an early lead thanks to goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden, and the Premier League leaders never looked back.
Erling Haaland bagged his obligatory goal shortly after the restart, before young James McAtee struck to seal all three points.
How the game unfolded
Slovan Bratislava nearly offered a shock start to the game when Tigran Barseghyan found some space on the counter and sent a fizzing effort narrowly wide of Stefan Ortega’s net inside the opening two minutes.
However, City soon claimed control and took the lead through Gundogan, whose volley from the edge of the penalty area took a wicked deflection and left goalkeeper Dominik Takac with no chance.
In the 15th minute, City doubled their advantage through Foden. The England international found an inch of space in the box and bent a perfect effort into the bottom corner.
Jeremy Doku crashed against the angle as City searched for a third, and Gundogan followed suit from the edge of the area as his powerful effort crashed back off the crossbar seven minutes before half-time.
Haaland cut a frustrated figure as he headed what was just his eighth touch of the ball wide shortly after the restart. He made up for it almost immediately, however, by rounding the goalkeeper and tapping into an empty net.
With 16 minutes to go, James McAtee powered home a fourth from close range, capping off a fine victory for Pep Guardiola’s side.
GK: Stefan Ortega – 6/10 – Largely a bystander in an unsurprisingly comfortable performance.
RB: Rico Lewis – 7/10 – Had so many opportunities to get involved further forwards and gleefully took every chance. Some smart passes in midfield.
CB: Manuel Akanji – 6/10 – A handful of nervy moments early on. Didn’t exactly get much wrong but lacked the composure needed at times.
CB: John Stones – 7/10 – An excellent creator from deep, Stones was heavily involved in most of City’s build-up.
LB: Josko Gvardiol – 7/10 – Got involved in attack time and time again. Flashed signs of a real understanding with Savinho.
DM: Ilkay Gundogan – 8/10 – Netted the opening goal and could have bagged another from range in a calm, clinical performance.
DM: Matheus Nunes – 5/10 – On a night in which City looked a class or two above their opponents, Nunes undoubtedly failed to stand out. His play was often slow and uninspired.
RM: Jeremy Doku – 8/10 – A massive threat all night long. Grabbed a deserved assist and should have had at least a goal or two of his own.
AM: Phil Foden – 8/10 – Showed real class with his goal. Buzzed around with real excitement throughout and looked to be enjoying himself.
LM: Savinho – 7/10 – Some nice moments which caused chaos for the Slovan Bratislava defence, but undoubtedly played a reserved role compared to Doku and Foden.
ST: Erling Haaland – 7/10 – Slovan Bratislava defended so deep that Haaland was simply never going to get the space needed to get involved here. Was on the fringes for the majority of the game before one moment of quality saw him get his goal.
Substitutes
SUB: James McAtee (61′ for Haaland) – 7/10
SUB: Ruben Dias (61′ for Akanji) – 6/10
SUB: Jack Grealish (78′ for Foden) – 6/10
SUB: Kyle Walker (78′ for Gvardiol) – 6/10
Subs not used: Ederson (GK), Scott Carson (GK), Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva
Manager
Pep Guardiola – 7/10 – Went surprisingly strong for this lineup, considering his public pleas for more opportunities to rest his stars, but there can be no complaints with the outcome.
