Micah Hamilton sparks Manchester City win at Red Star Belgrade
Whatever else Micah Hamilton achieves in his career it will glisten with the honeyed memory he created 19 minutes into his Manchester City debut here.
Running in from the right, the 20year-old elite development squad captain collected a Matheus Nunes ball and, from a tight angle, smashed past Omri Glazer. It sent Hamilton into ecstasy and racing for a corner of the Rajko Mitic Stadium, where the boy from Crumpsall, who joined the club as an under-nine, was mobbed by Nunes, Rico Lewis, Kalvin Phillips and the other stellar names in City’s XI.
“I was delighted to score on my debut. It still hasn’t sunk in yet - still I’m taking it in,” Hamilton said.
In a match of zero jeopardy thanks to City already being in Monday’s draw for the knockout phase as Group G winners, it was a delightful moment, Hamilton’s finish prompting pictures on social media of him six years ago taking instructions as a ballboy from Pep Guardiola during a match against Crystal Palace.
The manager, having forgotten the interaction, was shown an image. “I didn’t know,” he said. “Six years ago? Wow. What a goal, eh! I’m so happy for him. He’s training quite often with us, we saw his skills up front 1-v-1 and he made a fantastic goal and penalty.”
If this was fairytale stuff then memorable, too, was Oscar Bobb after the hour matching Hamilton’s first senior strike. In a 13th appearance, the Norwegian danced from midfield through a backpedalling Red Star rearguard to beat Glazer, unloading close to the six-yard box.
Despite the game being a glorified training exercise, Guardiola still demanded standards be as high as ever. So when, early on, Cherif Ndiaye broke into City’s area the sight of John Stones guarding Stefan Ortega’s goal and shepherding the forward to safety will have pleased him. Yet after Hamiliton’s strike drew jubilation for City and their 1,200 loyal fans here, the “Delige” – Red Star supporters – soon felt their own exhilaration, though without the end product.
Inside a packed venue, with its low-slung oval bowl and running track between pitch and punters, Kosta Nedeljkovic surged along a right channel, twisted inside to leave Sergio Gómez trailing, and fashioned a curled, left-footed effort that went high and wide.
Gómez was in a back four that had Manuel Akanji and Stones at its centre and Lewis moving into midfield from right-back to support Phillips. The latter was in City’s lineup for only the second time this season – and perhaps the last time should he depart next month in search of the minutes required before England’s tilt at the European Championship.
“I don’t know what is going to happen [with Phillips],” Guardiola said. “There are a lot of games until the end of January so hopefully he’s going to help us.”
For the second half a quiet Jack Grealish was removed. Phil Foden entered, took up Hamilton’s right-sided berth and the youngster switched to the left. Almost instantly, from this flank, he came close to adding another goal with a bending attempt that went inches wide.
After Jovan Mijatovic, on as a substitute, hit the base of Ortega’s right post, Red Star struck via Hwang In-beom, who got away from Phillips to beat City’s keeper. This was greeted with home delirium and what sounded like a small bomb going off but, five minutes from the end, there was another nice moment for City when Phillips converted from the penalty spot – Hamilton having won it.
Near the close, Aleksandar Katai scored Red Star’s second consolation as City ended up as only the second English team to win all six games of the group stage.
The one low note had been the champions’ fans who were targeted on Tuesday night in an assault and required hospital treatment, though they were able to leave later.
A club statement said: “Manchester City FC is concerned by the news of an attack on our travelling fans last night in Belgrade. We are working closely with the local police to provide additional safety advice and support to all fans attending this evening’s match.”
That, however, did not sour Hamilton and Bobb’s evening. And with five homegrown talents on the pitch by the end – as they, Lewis and Foden were joined by a later replacement, Mahamadou Susoho – the victory has a particular resonance among the club’s youth set-up.
Guardiola said: “Congratulations to the academy for the last few years, how many players came up, how many players we sold to the Premier League and Championship and even more.”