Manchester City 4-0 Feyenoord: Blues dominate European opener

Manchester City had an amazing start to the Champions League season with a dominant 4-0 victory over Feyenoord on Wednesday night in Rotterdam. The Blues got an early lead and went on to demolish the Dutch champions, score some good goals and take the lead in Group F.

FIRST HALF

The Blues got off to a sensational start with two goals inside 10 minutes. First, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne made a one-two off a corner kick, Silva crossed the ball into the box and John Stones headed it in to put the Blues in front after just two minutes. Gabriel Jesus almost scored in his debut five minutes later after his header was cleared off the line by Botteghin, but Sergio Agüero did find the net in the 10th minute, redirecting a great cross from Kyle Walker into the corner of the goal.

A quick two-goal lead gave City the complete control of the match, and the Blues kept possession in midfield for the rest of the half looking to avoid counter-attacks from Feyenoord. The hosts had only one change when Bernardo Silva made a poor decision and lost a ball in his own half, which ignited a Feyenoord counter that was finished by Michiel Kramer and forced the only save of the first half out of City goalkeeper Éderson.

The Blues kept a clean sheet in the first period and added a third goal from a corner that fell to Benjamin Mendy at the edge of the box; the Frenchman’s shot was saved by Brad Jones but the ball fell to Gabriel Jesus, who was onside and tapped in his first Champions League goal.

Feyenoord finally managed to get forward a bit in the final minutes, pressuring City high up the pitch and having more of the ball in the final third. They had a few dangerous crosses and long shots, but nothing that troubled the Blues’ defense.

At halftime, a dominant display from the Blues virtually won them the game. They just needed to finish the job in the second half.

SECOND HALF

The Blues had one simple objective in the second half: keep possession, circulate the ball in Feyenoord’s half, and avoid silly mistakes so the hosts wouldn’t get counter-attacking chances. The gameplan worked to absolute perfection for the Blues, who had a lot of the ball and allowed no real chances to Feyenoord, who had two long shots in the entire final period that went well over the bar and never bothered Éderson.

City had a more pragmatic approach and never really looked to attack, so their chances were limited. They still managed another goal thanks to Kevin De Bruyne, who got his assist on the night with a wonderful cross into John Stones, who headed home his second of the game.

With the fourth goal and the win more than wrapped up, Pep Guardiola started to manage his players, giving an extra rest to Sergio Agüero, David Silva and Fernandinho, the oldest players on the team. Fabian Delph made his season debut and had a solid end to the game, while Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sané came on and created a few very good chances with their frightening pace and skill on the wings.

Feyenoord were absolutely done on the night and offered no threat in the final minutes, and City effectively killed the match to guarantee the victory and a second consecutive clean sheet. The Blues face a tough trip Watford on Saturday, and they look pretty good right now.

Man City: Éderson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Mendy; De Bruyne, Fernandinho (Sané); Bernardo, D. Silva (Delph), G.Jesus; Agüero (Sterling)

Goals: Stones (2’, 63’), Agüero (10’), Gabriel Jesus (25’)

Feyenoord: Jones; St.Juste, Botteghin, Heijden; Amrabat (Larsson), Ahmadi, Vilhena, Nelom; Berghuis (Toornstra), Kramer (Vente), Boëtius

Goals: None