Manchester City cruise in Copenhagen to all but book Champions League quarters spot
CITY CRUISE: Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game. Photo credit: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire.
KEVIN De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva scored the first half goals, with Phil Foden adding a late effort, to edge holders Manchester City a step closer to the Champions League quarter-finals, as last season’s treble winners continued their efforts to prove their manager wrong.
Pep Guardiola has publicly stated there is a 99.99 per cent of City not repeating last season’s historic treble-winning efforts but, as his side coasted to an 11th consecutive victory, his maths did not appear to add up.
There were concerns in the form of an early injury to Jack Grealish and a desperate error by Ederson, which gifted an equaliser to Magnus Mattsson, but none of City’s rivals, at home or abroad, will agree with Guardiola’s assessment.
By the time De Bruyne shot City into the lead after 10 minutes, the Premier League champions could have been three ahead and passage to the quarter-finals a formality.
It perhaps should not have come as a surprise, given that City were seeking an 11th consecutive win in all competitions while Copenhagen were playing their first game following a two-month lay-off for Denmark’s winter break.
Still, at a hostile and packed Parken stadium, this was an emphatic start from Guardiola’s team, who had logged 84 per cent possession by the time they took lead.
A cross-field pass from Ruben Dias switched play from left to right and, after Foden had shown one of his customary, cushioned first touches, he slipped the ball through for De Bruyne to finish clinically.
Perhaps it was all very predictable. After all, it was the first time since the Champions League Final in June that Guardiola had named Jack Grealish, De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in the same starting line-up.
That particular element of the evening did not go well for Guardiola, who was celebrating his 450th game in charge of the club, with Grealish, starting for the first time since early January, subjected to some rough treatment from the hosts and forced off injured after barely 20 minutes.
Grealish had been impressive in an electric start to the evening, with De Bruyne missing a glorious chance when he planted a free header wide as he met Nathan Ake’s cross six yards out.
Ruben Dias almost scored, moments later, his header from a Silva cross forcing a reflex save on his line from keeper Kamal Grabara.
Nor did the loss of Grealish change the tempo or momentum imposed by the defending champions. Soon after the goal, De Bruyne almost picked out Haaland for what would have been a routine finish.
And Silva’s dangerous cross clipped a defender and hit the Copenhagen cross-bar before Grabara was forced to save Foden’s follow-up shot.
Foden collected an injury in that incident, another worry for Guardiola with his squad high on talent but low on numerical depth as they chase the preposterous possibility of back-to-back trebles.
All of which made Copenhagen’s 34th minute equaliser all the more unexpected as Ederson inexplicably rolled the ball out his area directly to Mohamed Elyounoussi whose shot was blocked by Dias. The ricochet fell for Danish international Mattsson, making his Copenhagen debut, to finish from just outside the area.
There would even be another chance for Mattsson, who snatched at his shot and cleared the bar before the interval, but the Danes has been gifted a lifeline they could scarcely have expected.
But Mattsson’s final involvement of the half would lead to City’s second goal as the midfielder attempted to block De Bruyne but succeeded only in deflecting the ball into the path of Silva who finished magnificently with a deft touch past Grabara.
Copenhagen had twice come back in the group game against Manchester United to eventually record a win and there was certainly no lack of belief among their fanatical support that they could repeat the feat.
A header which Elyounoussi flashed through the City six-yard area early in the second half supported that belief although it was not long before City re-asserted their dominance.
Grabara continued a busy evening when he dived smartly to keep out another attempt, this a crisp De Bruyne strike, before doing likewise from Foden’s quick free-kick and Haaland’s looping header.
There was an even more impressive stop from Jeremy Doku’s 18-yard shot while Haaland headed over from Silva’s cross as City looked for a greater cushion; a decent consideration given that next month’s return leg falls between the Manchester derby and the league trip to Liverpool.
It finally came, two minutes into stoppage time, when Foden drove in from De Bruyne’s cutback, the Belgian's second assist of the night.
Grabara 8; McKenna 5, Vavro 6, Diks 6, Beleert 6; Mattsson 8 (Larsson 80), Falk 6, Goncalves 5 (Hojlund 70,5); Elyounoussi 7, Claesson 6 (Cornelius 54, 5), Achouri 5 (Sorensen 80).
Oskarsson, Ankersen, Meling, Runarsson, Clem, Bardghji, Froholdt, Gadeburg-Buur.
Ederson 5; Walker 6, Stones 6, Dias 7, Ake 7; Rodri 6, Silva 7 (Nunes 78, 5); Foden 8, De Bruyne 9, Grealish 6 (Doku 21, 7); Haaland 6.
Ortega, Alvarez, Akanji, Carson, Bobb, Wright, Susoho, Lewis.
J Martinez (Spain) 7
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