Manchester City locked horns with Borussia Dortmund at the Etihad earlier tonight as they looked to pick up a victory on their home turf. Kevin De Bruyne broke the deadlock around the 19th-minute as he converted from close range to hand the hosts a 1-0 lead. Dortmund came close to scoring the equalizer on a couple of occasions, but some awful decisions from the referee prohibited them from doing so. However, it was Marco Rues who netted the equalizer around the 84-minute-mark, soon after which Phil Foden bagged the winning goal of the game as he converted from Gundogan’s pass.
Let’s look at how each Manchester City player performed during the match against the Black and Yellows.
Ederson – 6.5/10
The Brazilian shot-stopper was extremely lucky to have gotten away with a fatal mistake around the 37-minute-mark. Nonetheless, he made a couple of great saves tonight, but there’s hardly anything he could have done to stop Marco Reus from finding the back of the net.
Kyle Walker – 6.5/10
The English right-back looked confident at the back and defended well throughout the 90 minutes.
Ruben Dias – 6/10
The Portuguese defender doesn’t usually make mistakes under pressure, but he gave away the ball too easily in some of the most crucial positions during the first half. Even in the second forty-five minutes, he had a couple of nervy moments which could have easily led to a second goal for the visitors.
John Stones – 7/10
The England international looked clumsy at times, but he made some important tackles and clearances to help his side at the back.
Joao Cancelo – 7/10
The Portuguese wing-back couldn’t display his attacking abilities tonight, but he put up a decent performance defensively.
Ilkay Gundogan – 7.5/10
The German midfielder stayed central and distributed the ball really well. He even got himself an assist late in the game.
Rodri – 6.5/10
The Spaniard snuffed out Dortmund’s counter-attacks time and again. Besides, he wasn’t afraid of driving forward to take part in the attacking gameplay.
Phil Foden – 8.5/10
The English youngster created all sorts of troubles for the Dortmund defence down the left flank and played a major role in the build-up to the first goal of the game. However, he lacked the clinical touch in the final third as he missed two big chances in the second half, but he compensated for the same in the 90th minute by bagging the winning goal for the hosts.
Kevin De Bruyne – 9/10
The Belgian playmaker scored the first goal of the match via a tap-in around the 19-minute-mark. He sprayed some really important passes upfield in the second forty-five minutes to create some big chances for the frontmen.
Riyad Mahrez – 7/10
The Algerian winger kept his composure in the box to carve out a brilliant goal-scoring chance for Kevin De Bruyne. He made some threatening runs down the right-hand side as well.
Bernardo Silva – 6.5/10
Pep Guardiola’s decision of going into the clash without a natural number 9 certainly raised several eyebrows, but Bernardo Silva did his bit to help his side tonight. He dropped deep or moved wide whenever necessary, and linked up the play well on a number of occasions.
SUBSTITUTES:
Gabriel Jesus – 6/10
The Brazilian striker provided the Citizens with some extra energy going forward.
