Manchester City 3-0 Olympiacos: Pep Guardiola’s men claim victory

Strange soccer game. Manchester City only scored once when they were beating Olympiacos and scored twice when the loosely attached Greeks should have forced a surprising draw. Work on it.

Pep Guardiola probably won’t bother to agonize and analyze too much, City now only require a draw at Piraeus later this month to advance to the knockout stages.

It seems like child’s play on paper, of course, but they have had to beat two results at home, first against an energetic Porto and then against an Olympiacos team who lamented Mathieu Valbuena’s flagrant late failure to 1-0. Perhaps that courage and perseverance will prove to be crucial in the long run. Another clean sheet too.

The most relevant, however, was the great positive: Ferran Torres. This young man already seems the part, and not just as an extreme or a simple reasonable deputy in the middle.

It was not so much his goal itself, more the eye for him, that caused Guardiola and Olympiacos to spin simultaneously for completely different reasons. Torres came up short and was already flying when Kevin De Bruyne returned his pass, rushing past the markers and sliding under José Sa.

The 20-year-old was never absent, becoming the third-youngest player in Champions League history to score in four consecutive games. The company that keeps on that list is Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé. Valencia, which only received an initial £ 21 million from Torres over the summer, is starting to look quite insulting.

Gabriel Jesús returned to the fold, scoring minutes after his presentation to secure these points at a time when they were being examined defensively. Sergio Agüero is expected to return soon, probably after the international break. But with Torres in this frame of mind, the reliance on the two South Americans might not be so desperate.

His absences were certainly not the main reason for City’s discomfort in the middle third of this game before two impressive late goals: Jesus’ strength equaled in class by Joao Cancelo’s finesse in stoppage time.

City were exceptionally good for 40 minutes and a bit relaxed thereafter, further proof that Guardiola’s team is falling for extended periods, as we have seen during Premier League matches so far. Still, even now, they feel the effects of a non-existent preseason.

“The way we played in the first half, we have to finish the game,” Guardiola said. ‘He left the game open in the second half and they were better. But when Gabriel scores, a brilliant goal, the game is over. ‘

However, Guardiola is excited about the way they are starting to approach the games with more direction, and his first goal came in 12 minutes via Torres. The young man had also gotten close twice before that. First, his back-heel volley shot from the corner by Riyad Mahrez went wide, before Torres dodged a scoreboard to head in moments later.

Sterling was correctly ruled out when he had the ball in the net 20 minutes later and the odds were pretty stable. De Bruyne wanted to walk an effort when the back line had tried something too clever within their own area, while Mahrez’s shot was bravely blocked by Pape Cisse.

City’s dominance waned and there were occasional moments when they had to rely on Nathan Ake and John Stones, the latter starting his first game since the start of the season at Wolves.

As has happened many times this quarter, the chances have dried up quite a bit, with the City tactically more conventional and ultimately stiffer. Olympiacos was not particularly dangerous but he was becoming more and more comfortable in his surroundings. The game drifted a bit, the frustration of those in blue was evident.

“Use the ball a bit, come on,” De Bruyne yelled as Phil Foden gave up possession in the Olympiacos half. Seconds later, Foden gave it away again and the consequences could have been disastrous. City built from behind, Foden fell to his own 18-yard line but sprayed a loose pass direct to Valbuena. Ederson had left his post, the goal was opened, but Stones somehow put Valbuena down enough for the French international to shamefully open up. That was the first effort of the Greeks on goal, inside or outside the goal.

“We are not in a position to control the full 90 minutes,” Guardiola added definitively. ‘Not yet.’

There was more, Youssef El-Arabi squeezing between Ake and Stones to force Ederson to save. Over a long period of the second half, City’s third straight win was at stake. Guardiola had seen enough, asking Rodri and Jesús to solidify the result.

However Olympiacos had slowly receded and was not finished, former Watford defender Jose Holebas launched an effort through Ederson’s goal. The empty Etihad gasped. Everything had gotten a bit nervous. Five minutes later and it looked like a defeat. A fun night.