Our reporter Michael Plant gives his verdict as Manchester City win to secure their spot in the knockout stages of the Champions League, while there's also concerning injury news concerning two defenders.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Hello it's Michael Plante coming to you tonight after Manchester United beat Young Boys 3-0 in the Champions League.
00:06 A very straightforward occasion, I think we all thought it was going to be when we came to the ground.
00:10 But certainly no surprises from Young Boys, really one-sided game from City.
00:13 Young Boys didn't actually manage a shot throughout the entire game, really one-sided affair here for City.
00:19 I say 3-0, two goals from Merling Haaland and one from Phil Foden.
00:22 On a really good night for City, played really well, created plenty of good chances.
00:27 Created lots of early openings that they didn't manage to put away.
00:30 After about 20 odd minutes you're wondering how long could Young Boys hold out for.
00:34 But Matthias Nunes was fouled in the box, the referee gave no alternative but to point to the spot.
00:41 Merling Haaland stood up, stroked the ball home and gave City a one goal lead midway through the first half.
00:47 And then just at the end of the first half Phil Foden scored a spectacular goal.
00:51 Fantastic pass from Jack Wheelie, he cut in the left, found Phil Foden in the other flank.
00:54 Foden cut inside and didn't really shape his body, so if he looked like he was going to shoot, he just passed it into the bottom corner.
01:00 Really, really nice goal from Foden. Another fantastic performance from him.
01:03 That's three games in a row Phil Foden scored.
01:05 He said in the programme notes before Saturday's game against Bournemouth that he wanted to add more goals to his game.
01:10 Well, that is certainly a positive step in that direction.
01:13 From the England international, and then it was 2-0 at half-time.
01:16 City came out in the second half and any slight hopes of any sort of comeback were quickly wiped out when Merling Haaland,
01:25 a fantastic goal from him, picked up the ball at the edge of the box, a little dribble, kind of shimmied,
01:29 created half a yard of space and if you give Merling Haaland half a yard of space, you know how it's going to end.
01:33 He rifled a shot past the young boy's goalkeeper. Really, really good goal.
01:37 Actually, I saw a stat that he's now scored three goals from outside the area for City, two of them in the last four games.
01:43 He's actually starting to add that more and more to his game.
01:46 It's a bit of a worry that if Merling Haaland is starting to add more skills to his incredible repertoire that he already possesses,
01:53 that really is a concern for opposition sides.
01:55 But, yes, a really comfortable win for City tonight and that means that City are now in the next stage of the Champions League.
02:00 They're guaranteed to be in the knockout rounds of the competition.
02:03 The 11th year in a row for City that they've managed to do that.
02:05 A fantastic achievement for them.
02:07 They also broke a couple of records tonight.
02:09 They recorded their 100th win in European football.
02:13 A fantastic achievement for them.
02:14 They also extended their winning run at home to 23 matches.
02:18 Just one short of the all-time English record of 24.
02:21 And they also made it 18 games unbeaten in Europe.
02:25 That is a record for an English side.
02:26 So, a really good night all around for Man City in terms of performances.
02:29 I thought there were some really good individual displays.
02:32 I mentioned Grealish and Fulton. I thought they were really good in the two wings for City.
02:35 I gave Erling Haal a man of the match just because I thought he took his goal really well.
02:39 The second one, his link-up play, I thought was fantastic as well.
02:41 So, a good night for him as well.
02:42 Defensively, Ruben Dias was really good at the back.
02:45 City did rest a couple of players.
02:46 Rodri dropped out. Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez.
02:49 All kind of thinking of Sunday's game against Chelsea really and just a hectic schedule recently for City.
02:54 But, midfield probably lacked a little bit of the solidity when Rodri comes out.
03:00 But, Luis, Nunes and Kopachic still performed pretty well.
03:03 It was, as I say, such a comfortable night for Manchester City.
03:06 But, I think the big talking point coming away from this game isn't actually the score or the fact that City got through to the next round.
03:10 It's two defensive injuries City suffered.
03:13 The first one, not a severe, Manuel Alcange.
03:15 He was actually named in the starting line-up and last minute was pulled out or had to pull out.
03:19 We were told by the club that it was an illness.
03:22 But, Pep Guardiola hasn't gone along with the party line.
03:25 He told us in the post-match press conference that he had a bit of a back spasm in the warm-up.
03:30 He actually said he looked like a 75-year-old man because he couldn't walk or he couldn't bend down.
03:35 So, he had to drop out. Kyle Walker came in in his place.
03:39 But, the big concern is John Stones.
03:41 He started the game, obviously, he struggled with a hip injury in the first couple of months of the season.
03:47 He actually missed 11 of the first 12 matches for City this season.
03:50 But, he started tonight. He's only recently come back on the team.
03:54 He started tonight, went off at half-time. We didn't think a huge amount of it.
03:57 And then, Pep Guardiola has revealed that he's had a recurrence of this hip injury.
04:02 It's come back again.
04:04 He said he's going to potentially be out for a long time.
04:07 It's a really big concern for City because John Stones plays such an integral role in this side.
04:11 A really specific role in how he starts in defence, steps up in the midfield.
04:15 He's just been one of City's most consistent players the last year or so.
04:18 It's a really big blow for Guardiola.
04:20 I think you could tell he was genuinely gutted to not have Stones in.
04:23 So, a really big blow for City tonight. And as I say, a night that was such a walk in the park for them.
04:28 One thing I did forget to mention about the match, actually, young boys were reduced to 10 men.
04:31 Pretty early on in the second half, a really strong tackle from Lopere, the young boys midfielder.
04:37 Second yellow card for him, he actually could have been sent off.
04:39 I thought for the second challenge, a really bad lunge in.
04:42 Nathan Ake, thankfully, he managed to escape without an injury.
04:45 But, I think that's the big talking point coming away from tonight's game.
04:48 The two injuries suffered to Pep Guardiola's side.
04:51 Plenty more going on as well across Manchester.
04:54 Football, of course, Manchester United involved against Copenhagen tomorrow night.
04:58 So, we'll be covering that in Manchester World.
05:00 Make sure to check out the website for all the latest news.
05:02 All the reaction from tonight's game and all the latest news building up to that game against Copenhagen tomorrow.
05:06 But, from me, Michael Plant, at the Etihad, thank you for watching.