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MANCHESTER, England – Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Ferran Torres put City ahead in the first half before Gabriel Jesus and then Joao Cancelo came off the bench to score and finally put out a spirited second-half performance from the Greek champions. The victory extended City’s unbeaten streak in the group stage to 14 games and they will have a chance to qualify from Group C when they travel for the second leg with Olympiakos on November 25.
Positive
Torres, who is still 20 years old, is seeking a theft of just over £ 20 million. His goal here made him the third-youngest player to score in four consecutive Champions League appearances behind Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. Not bad company to have. He hasn’t had too many chances since arriving from Valencia in the summer, but asked to replace the front in the absence of Jesús and Sergio Agüero, he has done a good job. His ability to finish off with a player still so young has been particularly impressive.
Negative
Pep Guardiola said after the 1-0 win over Sheffield United on Saturday that his team was not being clinical enough and that it was the same here. City dominated the first half, but had only one goal to prove it. A better team than Olympiakos could have cashed in the 45 seconds Guardiola’s team let go, and it wasn’t until Jesus’ goal nine minutes from time that the game became safe.
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Manager rating out of 10
The City manager said he would not look to Liverpool before choosing his team to face Olympiakos, but it won’t hurt that his first-choice spine of Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Rodri have the night off. The Spaniard will not be thrilled with a sloppy second-half performance, but City still did enough, kept another clean sheet and can now turn their attention to Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players submitted after 70 minutes are not rated)
GK Ederson, 7 – He did well to put his body behind a deflected effort by Youssef El-Arabi in the second half to keep the score at 1-0.
DF Kyle Walker, 7 – Created the first opportunity of the night with a sprint to the baseline and a drilled cross to Torres.
DF Oleksandr Zinchenko, 6 – He looked a bit rusty, but that was to be expected in his second start since returning from injury.
Highlights
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2 Related
DF Nathan Ake, 6 – Returns to team after injury. He had very little to do in the first half but El-Arabi caused the defensive problems after the break.
DF John Stones, 6 – Picked from the start for the first time since the first game of the season at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He did his best to organize from behind and will be happy with a clean sheet.
MF Ilkay Gundogan, 6 – He could have done better with a couple of attempts on goal and will be disappointed to lose control of midfield during Olympiakos’ hot streak in the second half.
MF Phil Foden, 6 – He got away with a loose pass to the Stones in his own penalty area that should have been called by Mathieu Valbuena.
MF Kevin De Bruyne, 7 – Scored Torres’ goal with his 13th assist in the Champions League since the start of the 2017-18 season. Only Mbappé has more in the same period.
Ferran Torres scored in his fourth consecutive Champions League appearance to put Man City on the board. Getty
FW Raheem Sterling, 6 – He struggled to create a lot and couldn’t see the goal as Olympiakos kept it under control.
FW Riyad Mahrez, 5 – The Algerian international had a quiet night and was replaced midway through the second half when Guardiola tried to use his substitutions to gain more control.
FW Ferran Torres, 7 – Re-elected as makeshift center forward in Agüero’s absence and Jesús only fit enough for the bench. Fresh finish to make the 1-0.
Substitutes
MF Rodri, 7 – City looked much stronger after their presentation.
FW Gabriel Jesus, 7 – A welcome goal after returning from injury.
FW Bernardo Silva, N / R – Took in for Sterling as part of a double substitution with eight minutes to go.
DF Joao Cancelo, 7 – Scored from distance in his eight-minute cameo replacing Walker.
FW Felix Nmecha, N / R – Came in for De Bruyne in the final five minutes of the game.
Source: espn.co.uk
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