Budapest, 24 February 2021 (AFP) – Manchester City defeated Germany’s Borussia Mönchengladbach 2–0 in the first leg of Champions League Round 16 in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday.
The English team’s victory was scored by goals from Portuguese Bernardo Silva (29) and Brazilian Gabriel Jesus (65).
The duel was played in the Hungarian capital, not at the Borussia Park Stadium in Mohenchengladbach, due to the Kovid-19 epidemic banning the entry of people from the United Kingdom into Germany.
Last week, Budapest hosted a clash between Liverpool and RB Leipzig (2–0), for the continental tournament also for the same reason.
City and Borussia Mönchengladbach meet again in England for a spot in the quarter-finals on 16 March.
– Portuguese victory – Apart from maintaining an unbeaten record of 12 games away from home in all competitions, the English team did not have much work to achieve their 19th consecutive win of the season.
At Puskas Arena, after threatening an opponent’s goal in three attempts, City opened the scoring at the end when Portuguese right-left João Canso, on an inspired afternoon, went to the bottom line and over-scored his compatriot Bernardo Silva. Crossed to climb. And the completion head (29).
Ten minutes later, Canso nearly scored a brilliant goal. After a table with Gabriel Jesus, the side touched between an opponent’s legs and kicked loudly from the edge of the area, but the ball ended up passing over the crossbar.
The supplementary phase followed the same script as the first half, in which the England team set the pace of the game and took more possession of the ball.
Gabriel Jesus did, after missing a clear opportunity in 53, taking time to complete when he was free. Striker Sterling advanced to the left and then played for Cansillo, who crossed that area to find Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese turned their attention to Brazil, who extended all to pursue the target (65).
At the end of the match there was still time for a superb defense by goalkeeper Ederson. After being unfairly overtaken by midfielder Rodry, midfielder Wolf pushed the ball forward and while hitting hard in the sequence, forced Brazil to make a superb defense and guaranteed 2–0 from home.
Now Manchester City can lose by a margin of difference which progresses to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. In the event of a 2–0 win by Borussia Mönchengladbach, the classification will be defined in overtime and, if the result is held to penalties.
– Champions League – Round of 16
Manchester City x Mönchengladbach 2 – 0 (1-0)
Stadium: Puskas Arena – Budapest
Audience: No Audience
Referee: a. Soares Dias (POR)
aim:
Manchester City: B Silva (29), Gabriel Jesus (65)
Teams
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Sommer – Lanner (Lazaro 63), Gint, Alevedi – Zakaria, Bensbany, Kramer – Hoffmann (Wolf 87), Neurohaus, Stindle (Cap) (Ambello 74), Plia (Therm 63). T: Marco Rose
Manchester City: Ederson – Walker, Canso, Dias, LaPorte – B Silva, Rodry, Gundogan – Gabriel Jesus (Aguero 80), Sterling (hat) (Mahrez 69), Foden (Torres 80). T: Josep Guardiola.
bur-cpb-rbj / dr / lca
