Oil-Rich Manchester City went with their business as usual after they earned a solid win over Ukranian giants Shaktar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. The four-time English champions recorded a satisfactory 2-0 victory over the visitors.
Midfield magician Kevin De Bruyne and wonderkid Raheem Sterling got themselves in the score sheet for the Sky Blues, while the likes of David Silva and summer signing Bernardo Silva impressed with their ingenuity and work rate on the pitch.
There might be naysayers who would argue that City underperformed during this game, managing to only get two goals against a relatively weaker side. However, the fact that the English giants dominated possession and had more shots on target meant they were simply unlucky.
Manchester City kicked off the game immediately on the offence, with City’s talisman Sergio Aguero missing an attempt on goal early on. While the home side would be able to launch more attacks from there, it appears they were greatly hindered by the opposition’s offside trap. True enough, the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Aguero himself were caught offside a number of times in the first half hour of the game.
Donetsk striker Facundo Ferreyra also had attempts on goal of his own, but Manchester City keeper Ederson Moraes made sure none made it towards the back of the net. The first half would, however, end in a goalless stalemate.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 26, 2017
City upped their gears in the second half, pressing forward more and bringing the game to their doggedly determined opponents. Frustrated with Donetsk’s offside trap, De Bruyne decided to shoot from distance, and he did with authority. The Belgian midfielder’s right-footed shot sends the ball flying from the edge of the box towards the top right corner.
Donetsk would grasp at chances from there, but it was all City from this point. The home side record a commendable 18 attempts on goal during the game, further evidence of their dominance. But it appeared they were finding it hard to turn thses attempts into actual goals. Aguero even failed to score from the spot after Ukranian keeper Andriy Pyatov guess correctly and saved the Argentine’s penalty.
Fears of the visitors winning an equaliser late on were quashed, however, when young gun Raheem Sterling scored from the centre of the box at the 90th minute.
The result meant City are now two for two in Group F of the Champions League and are firm favourites to qualify into the knock-out rounds.
0 – None of Manchester City’s previous 37 @ChampionsLeague group games have ended goalless. Entertainers.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 2017