Raheem steals it as Foden steps up
PEP GIVES WONDER BOY A RUN OUT IN CITY LATE SHOW
HE WAS the best player of the game long before he scored the goal that settled it. Raheem Sterling’s rebirth at Manchester City continues to gather pace and here his late strike took the headlines away from another gifted Englishman.
As City laboured to what would have been a rather uneventful draw against the champions of Holland, it appeared that the only memory of note would be the debut of 17year-old old Phil Foden, on as a late substitute for a taste of Pep Guardiola’s first team.
But with only minutes to go, Sterling took a lovely pass from left-back Danilo to ease clear and lift the ball over goalkeeper Brad Jones. It was a lovely finish, Sterling’s eleventh goal of the season and typical of the confident way he is currently playing his football.
With Shakhtar Donetsk losing in Napoli, City would have finished top of Group G with a game to spare anyway. But Guardiola will cherish this victory nevertheless. It means that only twice this season have City failed to win and only once have they failed to score. These things matter.
City were the better team all night, even though Guardiola rested players. Foden (right) arrived for Yaya Toure with 15 minutes to go and it felt significant. Out with the old and in with the new. He did not look out of place and one can’t imagine it will be that long before we see him again.
Feyenoord came to Manchester firmly stuck to the bottom of the group. After suggestions that 10,000 of their fans would follow them to England, there were a more modest 4,000 here.
What they saw early on was not exciting. City struggled to find their recognisable rhythm and did not make any initial inroads.
Guardiola’s team did improve — with Sterling particularly influential — but still did not work former Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones until the 21st minute when Kevin De Bruyne set up Sergio Aguero for a shot that the Australian parried.
At the other end, City goalkeeper Ederson survived his first of two nervy moments in the 26th minute. Controlling a ball loosely outside his area, he saw Jean-Paul Boetius run on to it and then fall under the challenge. It looked for all the world like a foul but the referee judged that Ederson had got a toe to the ball and replays showed him to have been right. Subsequently, City improved and began to strangle the Feyenoord midfield. Sterling was City’s best player with De Bruyne not far behind and there were several moments when danger seemed to be about to threaten. Unusually, though, City’s final pass was often imperfect which meant that Jones reached halftime having made only two more saves. The first was from a Sterling drive — fisted clear from in front of his face — and the second was from Bernardo Silva, set up nicely by a lateral Sterling run and pass. Feyenoord did not lack ambition and pressed forwards when they could. They appealed for a penalty when Tonny Vilhena went down under an Ederson challenge in the 41st minute but once again it appeared the City goalkeeper got something on the ball.
Beyond that, the pattern of increasing home pressure continued into the second half.
Aguero was having one of those frustrating nights when nothing would quite drop for him but his industry was apparent all the same.
He set up De Bruyne for a chance in the 50th minute only for the Belgian to drive the ball over before missing the target himself with a right foot effort just a minute later.
City may have not have scored by this point but Guardiola will have been enthused by his team’s effort. This game may have meant very little but City were not playing in that manner and all they required was a little more calm in front of goal.
The City manager’s own desire for victory was made clear just after the hour when he sent on Gabriel Jesus. He replaced De Bruyne, who picked up a booking that means he misses the final group game, days before the Manchester derby. His last act was to shoot low across goal from the right and narrowly wide. Soon after Toure curled a free-kick close as City increased the pressure.
Briefly Feyenoord flickered to life 20 minutes from he end as Sam Larsson drove a free-kick over and then Ederson saved from Steven Berghuis after a superb move involving Vilhena and Larsson.
Foden arrived with 15 minutes left and the welcome was a raucous one. If he wanted to mark his debut with something memorable, now was the time. As it was City’s best chances had already come and gone.