Manchester City

Manchester City

Premier League • England

Player Ratings: Man City star impresses on rare UCL start as Pep’s men reach QFs

Gabriel Jesus of Man City

Gabriel Jesus looked impressive as Man City reached the Champions League quarter-finals, despite being held to a 0-0 draw by Sporting Lisbon.

The Citizens already had one foot in the last eight after thrashing Sporting 5-0 in the first leg of their round of 16 tie. A similar result was expected at the Etihad but never came to fruition.

City dominated possession right from the start. However, it took until the 38th minute for them to have a real sight at goal. Fernandinho played in Phil Foden, and the England international sent Raheem Sterling through with a great first-time pass. The winger went to chip Sporting’s goalkeeper but could not pull it off.

The home side thought they had taken the lead shortly after the break. Substitute Riyad Mahrez showed great feet when racing into the box, before giving it to Jesus. The number nine cleverly finished at the near post but was just offside in the build up.

Sporting grew into the game in the second half, especially after the addition of Marcus Edwards, but failed to get a consolation goal.

City kept the clean sheet to put themselves in the hat for the next round, where they could face one of Liverpool, Bayern or Real Madrid.


Manchester City (4-3-3)

Ederson: Had little to do but showed decent concentration to save when called into action. Replaced by Carson as Guardiola chose to give the veteran a run out. 6

CJ Egan-Riley: Made his Champions League debut but soon settled into the match with a few decent touches. A quiet night for the teenager as Sporting rarely threatened. 7

John Stones: Regularly started off City moves, either with short passes into midfield or long balls into the forwards. Didn’t have to deal with much defensively. 7

Aymeric Laporte: Dealt with Islam Slimani well, on the odd occasion Sporting managed to get forward. 7

Oleksandr Zinchenko: Saw plenty of the ball in the first half, just like his team-mates, and got up with Sterling regularly on the left flank. Had more to think about in the second half when tricky winger Edwards came on. 7

Ilkay Gundogan: Heavily involved as the Citizens dominated possession – kept the moves ticking along. 6

Fernandinho: Set the tone in midfield right from the start, with most of City’s early play going through him. Regularly showed good vision to pick out the likes of Jesus and Sterling out wide. 7

Phil Foden of Man City

Bernardo Silva: Consistently found space between the lines, with Sporting’s midfielders unable to deal with him in the first half. Replaced by Mahrez at the interval. 7

Gabriel Jesus: Lively in attack for large periods, clearly looked to impress his manager on his first UCL start of the campaign. Showed composure to score at the start of the second half but was marginally offside in the build up. Looked most likely to score for City but couldn’t get his goal. 8 – Man of the Match

Phil Foden: A constant problem for Sporting, using his close control to great effect. Sent Sterling through with a great first-time pass but his England team-mate couldn’t finish. Replaced by McAtee at half time. 8

Raheem Sterling: Should have opened the scoring in the 38th minute when going one-on-one, but failed to pull off an audacious chip. 6

Substitutes:

James McAtee (on for Foden, 45): The academy graduate’s first UCL appearance. Got involved in attacks soon after coming off the bench, following where Foden left off. 6

Riyad Mahrez (on for Silva, 45): Almost had an instant impact when he set up Jesus in the 47th minute, only for the Brazilian’s goal to be ruled out. A threat throughout the second half. 7

Scott Carson (on for Ederson, 73): Given a rare appearance by Guardiola. In action pretty much straight away, helping to keep City’s clean sheet intact with a good save. 7

Luke Mbete (on for Laporte, 84): N/A

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