Teenager Lewis has night to remember with first goal
RICO LEWIS had threatened to do this against Bayern Munich on Manchester City’s summer tour to America. there he jinked by three Bayern Munich defenders at pace in a tight space, only to thunder into the near post.
It had everyone inside Green Bay’s Lambeau Field asking who was this explosive 17-year-old. City fans are well aware of him now. A proper right back, Lewis was ready to make his mark in the final third throughout. he drove forward and looked adept at moving inside, just as Pep Guardiola asks. his evening had been positive before the goal but there came some icing nevertheless. he waited to make his run as Julian Alvarez’s persistence turned over possession and off he went, Alvarez slipping the defender in. Just as in the States, Lewis went for the near post. this time, a swish rather than a dink. Gobsmacked, he held a hand over his mouth. What a wonderful moment his 52nd-minute equaliser was for him, his parents in a box and the club’s academy. Lewis has been in their system since he was seven and his full professional debut was one to remember.
Phil Foden was one of the first to congratulate him, and that felt significant given Lewis is only around 170 days older than the academy’s poster boy was when he made his first start.
Lewis became the youngest player to score on their first Champions League start, breaking a record held by Karim Benzema, and is only the fifth englishman to play in the competition before turning 18, joining Foden, Jack Wilshere, Josh Mceachran and Jude Bellingham.
Guardiola does not offer minutes for nothing and so Lewis, it seems, has a bright future. And his performance engineered some interest into a game that looked unappealing beforehand, given City had already topped the group. Sevilla did too, in fairness, going ahead through Rafa Mir — only for City to eventually ease past them comfortably. Lewis was afforded a standing ovation when substituted late in the game, shortly after toying with Alex telles in one corner of the etihad. the referee told him to go off on the far side, giving Lewis even longer to sheepishly accept the chants of his name and warm applause.
‘An enormous talent,’ said team-mate Ruben Dias. Guardiola was equally effusive. ‘What a goal,’ he said. ‘he’s a fantastic player, so intelligent. he understands everything. I didn’t know him before we went to America and then we saw it in the training sessions. With good players you realise in two minutes, you can see it. We saw this guy has something special.’ City came through unscathed — no suspensions ahead of the last 16 —- although they were defensively shaky. Inside 30 seconds, Dias gave cheap possession away, which resulted in Mir scooping over Stefan ortega’s bar. the German goalkeeper, making his home debut, then stopped smartly when Mir outpaced Sergio Gomez.
Mir, who did not manage a single goal during spells at Wolves and Nottingham Forest in the
Championship, did finally score — gift wrapped by the hosts. Gomez and Dias got nowhere an Isco cross allowing Mir to plant a free header into Ortega’s far corner just after the half-hour. Once Lewis struck, City purred. Alvarez notched the second with 17 minutes remaining and deserved to do so too. It owed so much to substitute Kevin De Bruyne, whose sumptuous pass found Alvarez, who skipped beyond Yassine Bounou and clipped into the roof of the net. ‘Julian is a special guy,’ Guardiola said. ‘The work ethic. He was patient, found the space, and got a reward.’
Riyad Mahrez added a third with seven minutes left and Guardiola will hope that stirs something to revive the Algerian’s season. For Alvarez, whose pressing manufactured the goal for Mahrez, it was his most impressive display of the campaign. Yet he was overshadowed by someone else. As understudy to Erling Haaland, at least he is used to that. MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ortega 7;
LEWIS 8.5 (Cancelo 85), Dias 5.5, Laporte 7, Gomez 5 (Wilson-Esbrand 70min, 6); Palmer 6.5 (De Bruyne 70, 7.5), Gundogan 6.5 (Silva 57, 7), Foden 7.5; Mahrez 7, Alvarez 8, Grealish 6 (Rodri 46, 7).
Scorers: Lewis 52, Alvarez 73, Mahrez 83. Booked: None.
Manager: Pep Guardiola 6.
SEVILLA (4-4-2): Bounou 6; Montiel 6, Carmona 6, Marcao 7 (Gudelj 45, 5.5), Rekik 5; Mir 7, Delaney 6.5, Rakitic 7 (Jordan 67, 6), Acuna 6 (Telles 46, 5); Gomez 6 (Suso 46, 6), Isco 6.5 (Lamela 57, 6). Scorer: Mir 31. Booked: None.
Manager: Jorge Sampaoli 6.
Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (Isr) 7. Attendance: 51,610.