Raheem Sterling scored his first Champions League goal to help Manchester City seal its place in the round of 16 with a dominant 3—1 win at Sevilla on Tuesday.
The 20—year—old forward got City going with an opening goal in the eighth minute before he hustled to win the ball and help Fernandinho double the advantage in the 11th.
Sevilla’s Benoit Tremoulinas scored for the hosts in the 25th, only for former Sevilla fan favorite Jesus Navas to pass for Wilfried Bony to take City’s third in the 36th.
City moved into first place in Group D with nine points with two games left. Sevilla has three.
In the other group game, Juventus drew 1—1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach to fall into second with eight. Moenchengladbach is last with two.
Even without the injured Sergio Aguero and David Silva, City eased to the win guided by Sterling who tormented Sevilla’s defense with his speed and flair on the left flank until substituted in the 73rd.
“During 90 minutes we didn’t have the level of the Champions League, they won easily,” Sevilla midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak said. “City was too strong.”
Fernandinho’s and Bony’s early efforts were warning shots of what was soon to come when Sterling met Fernandinho’s through ball on his run from the left side where he used one soft touch to slot the ball past goalkeeper Sergio Rico.
Sterling manufactured City’s second goal by tenaciously fighting for a long ball that he had initially lost to Jorge “Coke” Andujar.
Sterling pressured and pounced on Coke’s poor back pass before laying off for Bony. Rico saved his shot but watched his rebound fall for Fernandinho to head home.
With Sevilla reeling, Navas went close to giving City another goal just two minutes later in the 13th when he hit the post.
City continued to create shots with alarming ease for the home fans, but Coke made amends for his earlier defensive error by attacking in City’s area before lifting a short cross back for Tremoulinas to head in.
The goal appeared to revive Sevilla and two minutes later only a great one—handed save by Joe Hart kept Krychowiak from leveling the score.
But Navas helped snuff out the response when he picked out Bony and sent in a low pass for the striker to volley between the helpless Rico and the near post.
City controlled the second half and finished with 11 on goal shots to Sevilla’s two as it moved on to the knockout stage.
0 comments:
Post a Comment