The reigning Premier League Player of the Year has endured a quiet start to the campaign, but he shone in Slovakia
Manchester City were in scintillating form as they claimed a 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League on Tuesday. Jeremy Doku, Rico Lewis and Phil Foden were the stars of the show, with the English attacking midfielder particularly effective with a goal and an assist.
Ilkay Gundogan, Erling Haaland and James McAtee were also among the goals as Belgian winger Doku caused havoc down on the right side and Lewis impressed in offering plenty of support and energy for City.
Beyond an early scare from a Bratislava counter attack, City easily asserted their dominance and took the lead just eight minutes in when a blocked shot fell for Gundogan to lash home thanks to a big deflection. Doku, whose cross helped create the opener, was at it again less than 10 minutes later when he got on the ball down the right wing and found Foden to send it into the bottom corner.
City were flying and continued to test goalkeeper Dominik Takac, but the Slovakian side managed to keep the Premier League champions out until their defence handed a chance to Haaland just before the hour mark. The Norwegian striker had a quiet night overall, but made no mistake as the Bratislava backline opened up for him after a pass from Lewis and he made no mistake with the finish.
Pep Guardiola's team kept cutting through their opponents and managed to find a fourth as Foden chipped to substitute McAtee, who rolled it in for his first senior goal for the English champions.
GOAL rates City's players from Tehelne Pole…
AFPGoalkeeper & Defence
Stefan Ortega (5/10):
Bratislava's two shots missed the target and he had little to do over the 90 minutes.
Rico Lewis (8/10):
Did a good job sending Doku free down the right side. Fought to win the ball, was useful on it, and caused problems with his movement up the field. Set up Haaland with a fine pass, too.
Manuel Akanji (6/10):
Helped keep Bratislava's attack quiet and was decent with the ball.
John Stones (7/10):
His passing was excellent and he was barely troubled defensively.
Josko Gvardiol (7/10):
Put in a lot of tackles and made some important interventions to keep the home team out
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Matheus Nunes (6/10):
Made some promising runs forward when he could and his passing was good.
Ilkay Gundogan (7/10):
Was lucky to see his shot hit a defender and go in, but he put in a strong display and hit the woodwork.
Phil Foden (8/10):
All balls into the middle seemed to find him instead of Haaland as he always managed to get into space. Deserved his goal and got an assist.
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Jeremy Doku (8/10):
He had a great time! A constant threat with so much down the flank to put his pace to good use. Key for the first two goals, hit the woodwork himself and created chance after chance.
Savinho (6/10):
Gave the hosts a lot of trouble down City's left but created nothing substantial.
Erling Haaland (6/10):
Went through long spells without being involved, but pounced on some woeful defending to get his goal.
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James McAtee (7/10):
Looked lively after replacing Haaland for the last 30 minutes and managed to get a goal.
Ruben Dias (5/10):
Didn't have much to do with City cruising by the time he came on.
Jack Grealish (5/10):
Was unable to get much time on the ball in his 10 minutes or so on the field.
Kyle Walker (6/10):
Got involved down the right side and had a long-range shot saved.
Pep Guardiola (7/10):
May feel his team should have scored many more considering their dominance and 25 shots – 13 on target – over the 90 minutes, but he can have few complaints otherwise as City strolled to the win.
