Manchester City is on track to advance to the quarterfinals in Copenhagen
The current champion, with a stellar Kevin de Bruyne, wins with ease in the first leg of the round of 16 in the Danish capital
MADRID, 13 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Manchester City, current European champion, has put its place on track to the quarterfinals of the Champions League by beating Copenhagen this Tuesday (1-3) in the first leg of the quarterfinals, in which the stellar performance of midfielder Kevin de Bruyne , with a goal and two assists, led Pep Guardiola's team.
It only took ten minutes for the Belgian to achieve 'Citizen's' superiority in the Danish capital, with a goal that gave an advantage to an English team that still had to suffer with Jack Grealish's injury after a quarter of an hour and with the tying goal of those of Jacob Neestrup. Two new pieces of genius from Ghent in the form of assists to Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden resolved the match for his team, who will arrive at the Etihad for the second leg with a solid income.
The brilliant start of Pep Guardiola's team met the expectations of the European champion at the Parken Stadion. A header from Kevin de Bruyne opened the season; After five minutes, Rúben Dias ran into the goalkeeper of the Danish team and Nathan Aké, on the rebound, was unable to finish successfully.
In that festival of occasions, the Belgian midfielder appeared to certify the 'sky blue' dominance: after a long run by Rúben Dias, Phil Foden received a ball behind and assisted Kevin de Bruyne in unmarking him, who crossed it perfectly to inaugurate the light (min.10).
Only the injury after a quarter of an hour to Jack Grealish, who had to leave the field of play to bring on Jérémy Doku, clouded the 'citizen' party, which continued with a shot from Bernardo Silva that hit the post. However, the indisputable superiority of the English was surprised after half an hour.
In the 34th minute, a serious error in Ederson's start was taken advantage of by the Norwegian Mohamed Elyounoussi to take the ball and create a shot that repelled the Danish defense; The rejected ball was caught by Magnus Mattsson, who with a right foot from outside the area was in charge of balancing the contest.
The blow failed to knock out a City team that took the lead again in extra time of the first half. Bernardo Silva took advantage of a loose ball after a fight between De Bruyne and Mattsson to subtly define against Grabara and make it 1-2 at half-time (min.45+1).
The Polish goalkeeper prevented City's third as soon as the match resumed, with a saving hand on a shot from De Bruyne, and Erling Haaland, missing during the first half, was about to surprise with a header in a play that ended in a corner.
The harassment of the continental champion increased in the final stretch, and Phil Foden found reward for the English insistence assisted by, of course, the Belgian midfielder (min.92). Pep Guardiola celebrated it euphorically, knowing that 1-3 will be a prize for the return leg at the Etihad.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: COPENHAGEN, 1 – MANCHESTER CITY, 3 (1-2, at halftime).
–ALIGNMENTS.
COPENHAGEN: Grabara; Diks, Vavro, McKenna, Jelert; Diogo Gonçalves (Hojlund, min.70), Falk, Mattsson (Larsson, min.81); Elyounoussi, Claesson (Cornelius, min.55) y Achouri (Sorensen, min.81).
MANCHESTER CITY: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Aké; Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva (Matheus Nunes, min. 78); Foden, Grealish (Doku, min.21); y Haaland.
–GOALS:
0-1, min.10: De Bruyne.
1-1, min.34: Mattsson.
1-2, min.45+1: Bernardo Silva.
1-3, min.92: The foot.
–REFEREE: Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez (ESP). Warned Falk (min.71) and Diks (min.74) for Copenhagen.
–ESTADIUM: The park.