Manchester City got rid of Club Brugge in a childishly simple way on Tuesday evening. Josep Guardiola’s team didn’t give a damn about the Belgians and triumphed 1-5. Cole Palmer made a dream debut in the Champions League. The midfielder found the net three minutes after his substitute and only needed two ball contacts for his first goal in the billion-dollar ball. City rise to first place in Group A with six points from three games. Later in the evening, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig will face each other in Paris.
It was the first time that Club Brugge and Manchester City met in a European context. Matches against English opponents often do not mean good news for Bruges, as the team has been without a win in the last twelve matches against English opponents. This time too it soon became clear that there was little honor to be gained for the team of trainer Philippe Clement. City seemed to take the lead after just nine minutes of play, when Jack Grealish outsmarted Simon Mignolet with a phenomenal lob. However, the attacker committed a foul on Clinton Mata prior to his goal and saw his goal disallowed.
????????????????, what a pass from Phil Foden ??
The young Englishman serves João Cancelo, who slides the ball through Simon Mignolet’s sticks ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #CLUMCIA pic.twitter.com/lnviGcBg8B— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) October 19, 2021
Bruges really had nothing to say in the first half and after half an hour of play ended up behind. After a phenomenal ball from Phil Foden, João Cancelo controlled the leather with his chest, before finishing with the outside of the right foot. City saw three goals disallowed in the first half due to offside, but that did not affect the urge to attack. On the stroke of half-time, Guardiola’s team doubled the score. Riyad Mahrez was knocked out in the enemy’s box and took advantage of the opportunity himself. The Algerian sent Mignolet into the wrong corner: 0-2.
After the break, the game picture hardly changed. Mignolet still had some fine saves, but could not prevent City from running out to a monster score. Ten minutes after the break, Kyle Walker lifted the margin to three, after he shot under the Belgian goalkeeper on a pass from Kevin De Bruyne. Mignolet also had no response to a shot from Palmer. The City midfielder was barely three minutes on the field when he hit the ball with his second contact. From the edge of the box he enjoyed all the time and space to place the ball controlled with the left in the left corner out of Mignolet’s reach.
Man City heading for a ???????????????????????? ??
The substitutes find each other: Sterling serves Palmer who graces his CL debut with a nice goal: 0-4! #ZiggoSport #UCL #CLUMCIA pic.twitter.com/uknIv712hi
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) October 19, 2021
City then created an opportunity, but a cross from Walker was too sharp for Ilkay Gundogan and a rebound from substitute Raheem Sterling ended in the side net. Ten minutes before the end, Hans Vanaken scored the honorary goal by scoring from close to 1-4 on a pass from Ruud Vormer, who, like Nathan Aké, came in after an hour of play. The final chord came from Mahrez’s foot. The attacker was sent off superbly by Fernandinho, let Sterling run for nothing and hit the short corner for his second of the evening: 1-5.