STROLL WITH IT
Blues cruise to knockouts as Foden stars again
PEP GUARDIOLA reckons Manchester City have no available time for meaningful training, so they devised their own glorified session out in Piraeus instead.
Olympiacos are not great but they were made to look awful in what appeared to be a 90-minute attack-against- defence drill. The attackers probed patiently, almost partaking in a game in which the ball was not allowed in their third.
Guardiola’s s i de were not scintillating — far from it — yet this was probably their most dominant display of the season. The Greeks registered their first touch in City’s box with two minutes left.
Progression to the last 16 of this competition is secured with a 100 per cent record. Topping the group looks fairly certain, too.
This was about attempting to locate an attacking fluidity their manager had admitted was missi ng. They passed, passed and passed again with an energy rarely spotted in recent weeks, and did it with far greater urgency.
Their play was not perfect, with only one goal via Phil Foden, but City seized an opportunity to rediscover a bit of zip. ‘ We were much more aggressive,’ said Guardiola. ‘ The team is alive. The performance was top- class. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the second because the game would’ve been completely different.’
City did it without Kevin De Bruyne, left in Manchester to rest alongside Kyle Walker. Bernardo Silva’s selection suggested that Guardiola viewed this as a chance for some to revive form.
Bernardo featured in an everchanging front four, carving a chance for Gabriel Jesus when dropping deeper, only for the Brazilian to strike at the goalkeeper’s legs when free. Foden, Rodri and
Jesus all might have scored earlier in the piece; Raheem Sterling’s menacing free-kick was scrambled over by Jose Sa.
The goal, coming with nine f i rst- half minutes remaining, was more old City than recent City, brimming with one-touch vision. Ilkay Gundogan switched to Jesus, who immediately set Sterling into the area. Sterling, unselfish, saw the onrushing Foden out of the corner of his eye and backheeled for the youngster to wrap his foot around the ball to slam it low into the net. When they click, it all looks so easy.
That was Foden’s sixth goal of the season for club and country already and he is doing nothing to dampen the calls for Guardiola to start him every week.
Incredibly, he has been on the bench for City’s last four Premier League matches. Only one of them brought victory.
Those around the camp talk of how Foden’s industry and thirst for football rubs off on others and his pressing i n conjunction with Sterling ought to have brought a second goal to finish the match off. Gundogan was t he eventual beneficiary of their harrying inside the Olympiacos box, but the midfielder could only curl a shot wide after the ball broke loose. ‘We need to work on scoring more goals ( because) we’re creating the chances,’ said Foden.
They were never threatened at the other end, however. ‘That is a big compliment for John Stones,’ said Guardiola. ‘I am so happy for him.’
Bernardo passed another opportunity wide before Sergio Aguero made his entrance, a reintroduction after a hamstring injury at West Ham last month.
City would have won by a far greater margin had the Argentine been about all night and maybe that realisation will fill Guardiola with hope for the coming weeks.