Late Silva winner saves Man City
Football update
A late David Silva goal gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory at Hoffenheim yesterday as Pep Guardiola’s side got their Champions League campaign back on track in Germany.
After suffering a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Lyon a fortnight ago, the Premier League champions badly needed the three points to move off the bottom of Group F. Silva poached the winner with just three minutes left when he reacted quickest to nick the ball off Hoffenheim defender Stefan Posch on the penalty spot and fire home. Hoffenheim had taken the lead in the first minute through Ishak Belfodil, but Sergio Aguero quickly equalised before Silva’s late strike.
“We’ve got to take all the positives out of this performance with the way we attacked and defended with a high line,” City captain Vincent Kompany told BT Sport.
“It’s a fantastic result, every away game in the Champions League is so hard to get three points from. “It was the only way to put right the result against Lyon.”
The away win was thoroughly deserved as City were finally rewarded for their patience after dominating a determined Hoffenheim defence for long spells.
However, City got off to a disastrous start at the Rhein-Neckar Arena as Hoffenheim shocked the English side by taking the lead after just 44 seconds.
When central midfielder Kerem Demirbay spotted a hole in the City defence, his pass put Belfodil clear to fire past goalkeeper Ederson to the delight of the home fans. City hit back in the eighth minute when Silva’s pass split the Hoffenheim defence and found Leroy Sane who cut the ball back for Aguero to convert.
From that point on, City were repeatedly thwarted in their efforts to grab a second goal against a dogged Hoffenheim side until Silva struck. Juventus 3-0 Young Boys, Hoffenheim 1-2 Manchester City, Bayern Munich 1-1 Ajax, Olympique Lyon 2-2 Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester United 0-0 Valencia, AEK Athens 3-2 Benfica, Roma 5-0 Viktoria Plzen, CSKA Moscow 1-0 Real Madrid.
PSG v Crvena Zvezda,Lokomotiv Moskva v Schalke, Porto v Galatasaray, Atletico Madrid v Club Brugge,PSV v Internazionale, Borussia Dortmund v Monaco, Napoli v Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur v Barcelona.