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Manchester City took control of their Champions League group when they achieved victory over Marseille at the Stade Velodrome.
Ferran Torres scored in the first half before goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling carried on after the break concluded with a resounding victory.
The result gives City a three-point lead in Group C after just two games and the intensity of the performance should boost confidence levels after a disappointing start to the Premier League.
On two occasions in Europe this season, following last week’s win over Porto, City have been very positive in their game.
This time they took the lack of a recognized center forward, as well as a host of other injuries, lightly as they brought the game to their French hosts early on.
Torres was a surprise choice to play center-back in the absence of injured forwards Sergio Agüero and Gabriel Jesús, but it was a selection that paid off.
Marseille manager Andre Villas-Boas, perhaps encouraged by Lyon’s loss to City in last season’s quarter-finals, came up with a plan to sit deep with a five-man defense.
But unlike that night in Lisbon in August, City were sharp and eager to take the lead.
The visitors won a series of corners in the opening minutes and Kevin de Bruyne, back in shape, flew and had another effort blocked. Phil Foden also put goalkeeper Steve Mandanda to the test before City took a well-deserved lead in the 18th minute.
De Bruyne found himself in a clear space behind the Marseille defense after a mistake by Valentin Rongier and calmly squared himself for the equally unmarked Torres to touch the plate.
City continued to dominate and came within a second when Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross shot scraped the outside of the post.
Marseille offered little until a long-range shot from Nemanja Radonjic four minutes before the break, but Ederson claimed it comfortably.
The only disappointment for City at half-time was that they hadn’t turned their possession into more goals.
That may have encouraged Marseille and they threatened early in the second half when former Newcastle striker Florian Thauvin was repulsed by a combination of Ederson and post.
But that only opened the game further and he played into City’s hands when Sterling entered his from the right. The English striker first ran towards the goal only to be turned away by a good tackle from Jordan Amavi and then pushed Gundogan to shoot Mandanda.
That combination then came in handy to double City’s lead with 14 minutes to go when Sterling led a cross from Foden and Gundogan finished from close range.
City didn’t end there and they claimed a third moment later when Riyad Mahrez released De Bruyne and Sterling delivered his perfect inch ball.
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