Man City puts one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals

Midfielder Kevin De Bruyne scored a goal and contributed two assists, helping Man City win 3-1 at Copenhagen in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 on February 13.

The 3-1 win at Parken helped Man City set two records at the same time. They became the English team with the longest winning streak in the prestigious European arena, with nine matches, and also the first team in history to score three or more goals in seven consecutive matches in a Champions League season.

De Bruyne scored the opening goal with a cross-angle shot in Man City's win over Copenhagen at Parken Stadium, Denmark on February 13. Photo: Reuters — De Bruyne scored the opening goal with a cross-angle shot in Man City's win over Copenhagen at Parken Stadium, Denmark on February 13. Photo: *Reuters*

After overcoming a group containing Man Utd, Bayern and Galatasaray, Copenhagen continued to make things difficult for Man City, scoring an equalizer after falling behind in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. But against such a strong opponent, the home team barely had the ball to play with. The Danish representative accepted that the opponent had to shoot at the goal 26 times, before losing 1-3 at home.

City pressed hard from the start and missed a golden opportunity in the sixth minute, when Ruben Dias failed to beat the Copenhagen goalkeeper and Nathan Ake fired over the bar from less than five metres. In another unclear move, the visitors opened the scoring, De Bruyne finishing superbly from a tight angle for his 10th goal in the Champions League knockout stages.

After that, Man City continued to dominate the home team. The visitors almost increased the score in the 23rd minute, when Denis Vavro hit the crossbar in an attempt to block Bernardo Silva's pass into the penalty area. Unable to attack coherently, Copenhagen unexpectedly equalized in the 34th minute. From a bad pass from goalkeeper Ederson, Magnus Mattsson took advantage of the opportunity, shooting from a distance to equalize the score 1-1.

The hosts were unlucky again towards the end of the half. Mattsson tried to block De Bruyne's run, but the ball accidentally found Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese midfielder seized the opportunity to give Man City a 2-1 lead before the break.

Silva finished past goalkeeper Grabara, helping Man City lead 2-1. Photo: Reuters — Silva finished past goalkeeper Grabara, helping Man City lead 2-1. Photo: *Reuters*

The second half saw the game being even more uneven than the first. Copenhagen tried to fight back in search of an equalizer, but could not find a shot on target, while Man City did so eight times.

After De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku and Erling Haaland failed to beat goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, Phil Foden sealed a 3-1 victory in stoppage time. From De Bruyne's pass, the 23-year-old midfielder scored on the day he became the youngest English player to reach 50 Champions League appearances.

With a dominant performance and a two-goal advantage after the first leg away, Man City are almost certain to reach the Champions League quarter-finals. The two teams will play the second leg at the Etihad on March 7.

Vy Anh

Source link