Manchester City took on Feyenoord at home in a match which would confirm top spot in their Champions League group, with a game to spare. They had already qualified for the knockout stages prior to the clash and tonight, the Blues came out against Feyenoord in order to seal their fate as Group F winners.
And the Citizens did exactly that as Pep Guardiola’s men ran out victors on the night courtesy of an 89th-minute goal from Raheem Sterling. Although, the performance was far from convincing as Feyenoord defended valiantly and kept it tight in front of goal. Yet, the Sky Blues found a way to net the winner.
The result leaves the Blues of Manchester in a commanding position in their group. Let’s take a look at how each Manchester City player fared during the match.
GK: Ederson – 6/10
A nervy moment almost saw him lose control of the ball that could have let in Jean-Paul Boëtius. But the goalkeeper was mentally tough and recovered well from that incident, and did little else wrong.
RB: Kyle Walker – 6/10
The English right-back ran down the right flank and was industrious throughout the match. The manager decided to revert back to a five-man midfield and he adapted well to that role. But similar to most other Manchester City players, nothing really came off for him during the night.
CB: Nicolas Otamendi – 8/10
Arguably, the best player on the pitch. The Argentine centre-back was a rock at the back and showed his vast experience by putting in a calm and composed performance in the heart of City’s defence.
CB: Eliaquim Mangala – 7/10
The French defender made a nervy start to the match but grew in confidence as the match went on. His confidence is growing with each day and he now looks set to give John Stones a worthy competition for the starting spot in the coming weeks.
LB: Danilo – 6/10
The Brazilian didn’t look comfortable at left-back and had a few tricky situations to deal with. Other than a few incidents, he was mostly untroubled and looked better when Pep Guardiola played him in an advanced role in the midfield later on.
CM: Yaya Toure – 6/10
The Ivorian had a few good moments in the match which included a lung-bursting run in the second half. But he looked like a shadow of his former self and lacks the dynamism to secure a regular spot in the City line up.
CM: İlkay Gündoğan – 6/10
The German has a lot of quality but he lacked the sharpness of David Silva and failed to dictate the flow of City’s attack on the night. However, his effort and commitment were there for everyone to see.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 6/10
Manchester City’s Belgian talisman tried hard to keep his team going. But this match came too early for him which resulted in a jaded performance.
RM: Raheem Sterling – 8/10
The English speedster was City’s best threat in the first half when his movements from the left flank were causing a lot of headaches to the Feyenoord defence. He faded a bit in the second half, before scoring the only goal of the match. The 23-year-old combined well with a one-two pass and finished impeccably to hand his team an important European victory.
LM: Bernardo Silva – 5/10
The Portuguese international had a dull night and was pretty ineffective as part of City’s front three.
ST: Sergio Aguero – 5/10
The Argentine striker also had an uneventful night and never looked like scoring. The frontman hardly had a sniff on goal and was mostly wasteful in the second half.
Substitutes:
FW: Gabriel Jesus – 5/10
The Brazilian came on for De Bruyne but couldn’t affect the game in the way he would have liked.
CM: Phil Foden – 6/10
Most fans were looking forward to the youngster’s debut and he didn’t disappoint. The 17-year-old was fearless and made a great little cameo.
Brahim Diaz – N/A
Hardly had time to make an impact in the game.
