Kevin de Bruyne scored the first and assisted two more as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City extended their English club-record winning streak to nine in Champions League competition, emerging from their Denmark trip with a comfortable two-goal cushion for next month’s last-16 return leg at Eastlands.
Injuries dampen Citizens’ successful away assignment
- Kevin de Bruyne ran the show as Belgian’s return from injury continues while academy product and England international Foden caps his 50th Champions League appearance with 15th goal of the season (all comps), notches 75th as a City player to continue post-Christmas form
- Though there is worry about a return timeline for their teammate Jack Grealish, replaced by Jeremy Doku midway through the first-half after sustaining an injury that “looks muscular,” per head coach Pep Guardiola
- Liverpool academy graduate Kamil Grabara made nine saves, including multiple from Erling Haaland, to give his teammates a slim chance of producing an upset in reaching the UCL quarter-finals next month
THIS wasn’t a perfect night for Pep Guardiola’s men to savour on away soil, but it had all the makings of one in the early going. Six minutes in, they had already settled better than their hosts on an evening where Parken was playing host to a Champions League knockout fixture for the first time in 13 years.
Yet if it wasn’t for goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, loaned back to FCK for the full 2023-24 campaign after agreeing a £11.5m move to join Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg last summer, they’d be out of the tie completely.
The one-cap Poland international, departed Liverpool permanently in 2021 having emerged from their youth ranks after signing as a teenager this time eight years ago.
He’s grown leaps and bounds since then and it wasn’t hyperbole when Copenhagen sporting director Peter Christiansen declared him as one of the very best – if not best – goalkeeper in the club’s history.
He denied Ruben Dias’ goalbound header from a Bernardo Silva cross in the early exchanges, as his teammates were guilty of ball-watching against an in-form City side warned against complacency here.
Four minutes later, the 25-year-old was rooted to the spot as de Bruyne opened the scoring by deftly firing across goal into the bottom corner.
Simplistic and yet far from it, the 32-year-old ghosted past Magnus Mattson on the edge of the area and steered beyond Nottingham Forest loanee Scott McKenna, a fraction too late to block, after Phil Foden’s incisive pass.
Denis Vavro was inches away from giving City a two-goal cushion before the half-hour mark after heading Silva’s delivery onto the crossbar, ten minutes before a slack pass by Ederson was gladly seized upon by Mattson to equalise without warning.
The hosts barely had a sniff prior, though the Brazilian was far too casual in possession and Dias could only block Mohamed Elyounoussi’s effort into the new signing’s path, sidefooting into the far corner from the edge of the area.
On the stroke of half-time, de Bruyne jinked past two before tackling Mattson to unwittingly tee up Silva, who clinically converted at close-range as the hosts were left stunned at the break and their collective energy levels never recovered.
Grabara saved from de Bruyne, a trio of Haaland second-half efforts and Jeremy Doku from distance as City piled on the pressure looking for an all-important third.
Despite a double save in stoppage-time, there wasn’t much more he could do to deny Foden just outside the six-yard box after a clever give-and-go with de Bruyne.
City’s 53m summer signing Matheus Nunes, whose bright displays have almost exclusively come in the Champions League this term, played a key role in the build-up after replacing Silva (ankle) in the latter stages as Guardiola would’ve been mindful of the packed schedule awaiting them over the coming weeks.
Between now and March 10…
Feb. 17: Chelsea (H), Feb. 20: Brentford (H), Feb. 24: Bournemouth (A), Feb. 27: Luton (A) in FA Cup
Mar. 3: Manchester United (H), Copenhagen (H), Liverpool (A)
63 nights ago, Copenhagen edged their way into an unlikely last-16 tie with the defending champions. In 20 days, Jacob Neestrup’s men will need a miracle if they’re to advance their continental campaign any further this season.
Picture source: Getty Images, stats via CBS
Mo and Sports 