Manchester City thrashed Sporting CP 5-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) last 16 encounter, becoming the first side in the competition’s history to win five consecutive knockout games after a classic Pep Guardiola masterpiece.
Manchester City have already had 10 different goalscorers in the Champions League this season.
City have become the 14th team to score 200 goals in the UEFA Champions League. It’s taken them just 97 games to reach the milestone, fewer than any of the other 13 teams in the competition.
The “Cityzens” were eliminated from the Europa League via the now-defunct away goal rule the last time they played at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in 2012. An audacious Xando backheel forced a desolate trip back to Manchester.
To avoid a repeat of history, Pep Guardiola’s side dominated from the start and had the ball in the net after only seven minutes when Riyad Mahrez converted Kevin De Bruyne’s deadly pass from the byline.
The goal was initially called out because De Bruyne was assessed to be in an offside position, but after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was granted.
The Premier League leaders kept applying pressure, and Bernardo Silva made it 2-0 in the 17th minute with a superb half-volley past a stranded Antonio Adán, the ball smashing off the underside of the crossbar.
The “Lions,” who were playing in their first UCL knockout stage match since the 2008/09 season, struggled to exert control over the game and fell victim to another City attack in the 32nd minute, when Phil Foden pounced inside the area to coolly fire home the visitors’ third and become Guardiola’s second-highest UCL goal contributor behind Lionel Messi.
On the stroke of half-time, the English champions made it four as Silva doubled his tally by swooping on a cross from Raheem Sterling with his left foot, effectively finishing the tie after only 45 minutes.
For Guardiola’s team, it was more of the same after the break.
They moved the ball around with finesse, and Silva believed he’d scored his hat-trick with a clever header shortly after the restart, but VAR rejected the goal for offside.
Sporting manager Amorim brought on Manuel Ugarte in an attempt to save face, but the ‘Cityzens’ quickly made it five, this time with Sterling putting his name on the scoresheet.
He pounced on an appealing pass from Silva and slammed the ball home from the outskirts of the box.
In the end, City were a cut above their opponents throughout, and they are now assured of a place in the UCL quarter-finals for the fifth consecutive season.
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