Manchester City can look forward to the Champions League quarter-finals after goals from Ilkay Gundogan (two), Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero earned a clinical 4-0 first-leg triumph at Basel.
Pep Guardiola’s men were out of sight at a freezing St Jakob-Park by 23 minutes courtesy of Germany midfielder Gundogan’s header, Portugal playmaker Silva’s excellent volley and Aguero’s rocket from 30 yards. A consummate second-half display saw Gundogan add to the score with a refined curled shot.
AGUERO IS A MAN APART
There are few superlatives left to describe Aguero’s contribution to the Blues cause.
The Argentina centre forward only had one shot at goal, but he made it count as he lashed home from 30 yards. Such is the quality of his ball striking, his 198th effort for the club still found the side netting despite the distance at play.
But the relationship between Aguero and Guardiola remains a curious one. Brazil No9 Gabriel Jesus is scheduled to return “maybe in one week, 10 days, two weeks” and his mobility makes him a better fit for the Spaniard’s famed system.
And yet, in Jesus’ absence, Aguero has scored a stupendous 14 times in his last 11 run-outs.
As problems go, it is a welcome one.
SECOND STRING MAKE THEIR CASE
The wealth of Guardiola’s options are the envy of Europe.
His riches were on full show in Switzerland as two players who will not make his full-strength XI grasped their chance to shine.
Gundogan is a man renowned for his supreme passing, yet his completion rate was down at 82.1 per cent – for comparison, he recorded 90.2 per cent in Saturday’s 5-1 humiliation of Leicester. What he lacked in precision with his passing he made up for with his finishing.
Belgium midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was rested just past the hour mark for David Silva. But it will be Guardiola’s first signing in June 2016, from Borussia Dortmund, who will surely make way on a permanent basis.
This was also a better night for Bernardo Silva. A bouncing ball was expertly slotted home, although the sight of Germany winger Leroy Sane returning as a second-half substitute should signal the end of his six-match run of starts.
34 - Manchester City have already won more games this season in all competitions (34) than they did in the whole of last season (33). Exceptional. #UCL #BSLMCI pic.twitter.com/UJhZwns81G
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 13, 2018
NOT IN GOOD NIC
This might not have been a walk in the Park if referee Jonas Eriksson had been alert in the early stages.
Nicolas Otamendi was the luckiest man in Switzerland when his clumsy body check on forward Dimitri Oberlin in the penalty box went without punishment.
This continued an uncertain few days for the Argentina centre-back. He provided the only blemish on the thumping of Leicester, gifting the ball to England striker Jamie Vardy to score.
Has the January introduction of France Under-21 international Aymeric Laporte unsettled him?
The rough edges which defined his first two seasons in blue looked to have been sanded down. He cannot afford for them to reappear.