Sporting Lisbon 0-5 Man City: Stellar City smash Sporting in Portugal

Manchester City successfully sealed their progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a surprising last-16, first-leg demolition of Sporting Lisbon in Portugal.

Bernardo Silva was good, silencing the boos that greeted each contact from him and City’s three different former Benfica gamers along with his aspect’s second and fourth objectives, the primary an excellent half-volley following a nook.

In-form Riyad Mahrez was on the scoresheet once more with a close-range end awarded through VAR after a prolonged delay to evaluate if Kevin de Bruyne had strayed offside in the build-up, as initially dominated.

Phil Foden additionally added to his rising assortment of cool, calm finishes in a relentless first half that shattered Sporting.

There was no let-up after the break, with Silva seeing a hat-trick headed purpose dominated out for offside earlier than he arrange Raheem Sterling to twist in a beautiful fifth.

The outcome equals the most important profitable margin in an away match in the Champions League knockout part and offers City their joint largest European away victory, degree with the 5-0 win at Steaua Bucharest in the play-off spherical of this competitors in 2016-17.

Sporting will journey to Manchester for the formality of the second leg on Wednesday, 16 March.

“I’m completely greater than delighted,” stated Guardiola. “We know the way troublesome it’s, this competitors. We have been so medical – arrive, purpose, arrive, purpose, arrive, purpose. When it’s like this it’s troublesome for the opponent.

“We defended nicely and received an unimaginable outcome however we’ve got an obligation as a supervisor and staff to analyse how we carried out, not simply the outcome.

“We should maintain the ball higher. One of the foundations I’ve is when you will have the ball attempt to go to somebody in the identical T-shirt. Today we misplaced the ball many occasions.

“The distinction was that we have been so medical. Then it’s troublesome for the opponents and we’ve got confidence. It is a dream, an ideal outcome, so good for the second leg however we are able to do higher.”

City present their Champions League credentials

Pep Guardiola’s City stay a home behemoth, with a fourth Premier League title in 5 years now theirs to lose after taking 43 factors from the previous 45 accessible to go away them 9 factors clear on the high of the desk.

In Europe, although, they’re ravenous for a hit that has up to now eluded their expensively-assembled, uber-talented squad – their starvation solely deepened by the 1-0 loss to Chelsea in final season’s ultimate.

Such urge for food was on full show in Portugal’s capital in a showcase of all that that’s good about Guardiola’s staff – effort, consciousness, endurance and precision combining to put the inspiration for untouchable attacking excellence.

Mahrez’s early purpose – awarded after a really prolonged VAR delay – burst the bubble of the house aspect, who have been then merely dismantled, most notably and painfully by a former worker of their fiercest rivals.

Silva is a magician of a footballer, doing the straightforward issues relentlessly nicely but in addition making the ridiculously exhausting look routine.

Few gamers can rifle a rising ball in on the half-volley as he did in the seventeenth minute, with a dramatic cannon off the underside of the bar an aesthetic bonus.

“I at all times inform him ‘you’re the excellent participant’,” added Guardiola. “With the ball he’s greater than distinctive, however I at all times say to him you need to rating objectives, go and win video games, you need to have the power to do it.

“He scored among the best objectives I’ve seen for the method, for all the pieces.

“This was his residence city, and he loves coming again right here. Of course he’s a former Benfica participant, so this was particular for him tonight.”

In every other recreation, Sterling discovering the highest nook with a exact curling shot to go joint second with Paul Scholes on the record of main English goalscorers in the Champions League with 24 would make extra headlines. But not this one.

As a telling comparability of City’s rising authority, their efforts in Lisbon made them the primary staff to attain as many as 4 objectives in the primary half of a Champions League knockout tie since Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 8-2 in the final eight en path to profitable the trophy in 2020.

There was treasured little Sporting may do to stem the tide, their followers left solely to supply sporting applause to City’s brilliance because the objectives rained in.

However, whereas groups have been blown away this season with out ever laying a glove on City, Ruben Amorim’s aspect not less than supplied small glimpses of what they’re about with quick intervals of neat passing and well-worked however finally fruitless openings down the flanks.

Sporting have made large strides each on and off the sphere in the previous two years to unite once more after the training ground attack by hooligans in May 2018 and to as soon as once more compete for silverware.

As an indication of the progress made, their gamers left the sphere to applause, singing and twirling scarves from a loyal, appreciative help who caught by their aspect till the very finish.

As for City, final 12 months’s ultimate defeat nonetheless rankles and so they could nicely by no means have a greater probability to win it than this 12 months.

‘A winnable competitors for Man City’

Former England goalkeeper Rob Green, talking on BBC Radio 5 Live:

It is trying like it is a very winnable competitors for Manchester City this season.

What Pep had executed is unimaginable, the way in which he has reworked the entire membership.

They had success earlier than however to not this degree and you will note Man City followers who will say he’s superb even when he does not win the Champions League.

But, for him, it’s there and he would love nothing extra to go and win this competitors.