Manchester City made light work of Shakhtar Donetsk to get their quest for European glory off to the perfect start.
2019/2020 UEFA Champions League
0-3
Match Reports
Manchester City made light of their defensive crisis as Fernandinho filled in adeptly at centre-back and captained the Premier League champions to a 3-0 victory over his former club Shakhtar Donetsk.
Hampered by the absences of John Stones and Aymeric Laporte due to injury, City boss Pep Guardiola named Fernandinho alongside Nicolas Otamendi at the heart of his defence and was able to celebrate a clean sheet despite the odd shaky moment.
Riyad Mahrez scored his first goal of the season to settle City's nerves after 24 minutes and his interplay with Ilkay Gundogan produced the visitors' best moments at Metalist Stadium.
Gundogan, ably assisted by Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, ran the show from midfield and surged forward at every opportunity, getting himself on the scoresheet thanks to Mahrez's assist seven minutes before half-time.
Guardiola warned of the danger Shakhtar posed on the counter-attack in his pre-match comments and Luis Castro's men did manage to set Moraes free on a number of occasions, but the Brazil-born striker failed to carry his impressive domestic form onto Europe's biggest stage.
Group Standings
Match Events
24' GOAL! Shakhtar 0-1 Man City (Mahrez)
GOOOAAALLL! City lead 1-0 as Mahrez smashes the ball home from just a couple of yards out. Gundogan strikes the post from the edge of the box, but the rebound falls perfectly to the feet of Mahrez, who fires the ball into the back of the net. There was a quick VAR check on the goal to see if he was offside, but the winger was comfortably onside when the shot was fired.
35' Excellent save from Ederson to deny Shakhtar!
CHANCE! Great opportunity for Shakhtar to equalize! Moraes is fed wonderfully through on goal by Taison and he only had Ederson to beat, but he fires the ball straight at the City keeper, who stands up strong and makes a great save. He just had to slot the ball into the bottom corner there.
38' GOAL! Shakhtar 0-2 Man City (Gundogan)
GOOOAAALLL! City double their lead, it's 2-0! Gundogan with the second goal of the game. The midfielder races into the box unmarked and Mahrez finds him perfectly after cutting inside from the right wing, with Gundogan then toe-poking the ball past Pyatov and into the back of the net. Lovely move and goal.
53' OFF THE POST! Sterling almost scores
OFF THE POST! Sterling with a great chance to make it 3-0! Poor defending by Shakhtar, which hands the ball straight to the feet of Gundogan on the edge of the box, who fires a shot towards goal, but it's straight at Pyatov who makes a good save. However, the rebound falls straight to Sterling at a tight angle, who should score, but it cannons off the woodwork and goes out of play.
76' GOAL! Shakhtar 0-3 Man City (Jesus)
GOOOAAALLL! Jesus makes it 3-0 to City! They've finally got their third goal and that should wrap up the three points now. De Bruyne plays a lovely ball square to Jesus, who just stays onside and then races through on goal and beats Pyatov, by sliding the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.
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