Goals from Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus helped record-breaking City secure a superb Champions League last 16 first leg triumph over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Pep Guardiola’s was quite pleased tonight with his boys performance, though he continued insisting they could have done better. The Man city, which is presently comfortably topping the highly contested Premier League were in form once again at the Puskas Arena in Budapest as they racked up a 19th consecutive win – and created English top-flight history by chalking up a 12th straight away victory.
Their first goal in the two zero defeat against the Bundus Liga club side Gladbach came just before the half hour as Bernardo Silva headed home in a cross from Portuguese compatriot Joao Cancelo.
Gabriel Jesus had an opportunity to double our advantage on 53 minutes after latching onto a wayward back pass but was denied by a last-ditch Nico Elvedi tackle.
Gladbach almost made City pay for that miss with a rare attack when Alessane Plea delivered an audacious back flick which had Ederson scrambling.
Men’s Team City set new top-flight English record with 12th successive away win
Their second goal came from Gabriel Jesus in the 64th minute with an assist from by Cancelo.
Record-breaking City
The dizzying array of numbers and statistics continue to stack up for Pep Guardiola’s squad.
It’s now 26 matches unbeaten, with our last defeat coming in late November away at Tottenham, and 19 victories in a row.
Since then, we’ve won 23 and drawn 3, scoring 61 and conceding just seven.
And tonight’s latest success saw City create yet more history as we created a new top-flight English record for consecutive away victories.
This was our 12th successive win away from home in all competitions, moving us ahead of the previous record (also set by City between May and November 2017).
They are remarkable numbers in any language.
Man of the Match
Joao Cancelo continues to go from strength to strength and the Portuguese defender was in imperious form once again in Budapest.
Two stunning assists for City’s two goals set the seal on a wonderful night’s work from the 26-year-old whose vision, movement and creativity were again a joy to behold.
Aymeric the Centurion
It was a notable night too for Aymeric Laporte who chalked up his 100th City appearance in all competitions.
The central defender has been a huge part of our collective success since signing from Athletic Bilbao in January 2018.
And the Frenchman was in excellent form again tonight marshalling our back line superbly alongside Ruben Dias at the heart of our defence and making several vital interceptions.
Many congratulations, Aymeric!
Bernardo‘s reaction
“It was a good game for us, I think a good win, a very important win as we know how important and tough this competition is as one mistake can mean that you are out.
“We tried to play simple, dominate the ball as we always do, to create chances and score goals. It is a good win.
“Usually I’m not (deadly with head]. I try to practice this a lot and I have a competition with Ruben [Dias] about who can score more headed goals. I think tonight I was lucky that Joao gave me a great ball. I’m happy to score the goal and help the team.
“It’s my fourth season here at City, it’s a great squad, it’s got great staff and it’s a pleasure to play for this team. So far it has been a great season for us. We need to keep going because we’re only half way through.”
Pep Guardiola‘s reaction
“We played really well. We weren’t clinical enough upfront with the keeper. We have to be more clinical in this competition.
“You have to be better but in general no complaints we know how good they are and how physical they are. In general it was a good game. Kyle was exceptional – the game he played.
“It was the first step many weeks until the second leg. We are thinking now about recovery before West Ham.”
