Daniel Taylor's match report
Full-time: City 2-0 Shakhtar
That’s an impressive win for City against a fine team who gave them a stiff test. After an even first half City shifted into a higher gear in the second period and cruised to victory. The margin should have been bigger but they’re looking good in the group.
GOAL! City 2-0 Shakhtar (Sterling 89)
Splendid by Sterling! Wide on the right wing he released Bernardo Silva and then sprinted into the box. Silva had the coolness to wait before playing a low pass from the right to Sterling, who, near the penalty spot, slams the ball into the net via the underside of the bar.
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Shakhtar substitution: Petriak on, Bernard off.
87 min: A superb pass by Gundogan into the path of Sane. The winger dashes into the box and could centre for Bernardo Silva, who’s pleading for a pass eight yards from goal. But Sane gets greedy, beats one defender and then tries to sidestep another. He’s run into traffic at the edge of the six-yard box and his shot is smothered. Silva turns away in disgust. City should really be out of sight by now.
86 min: Sane, at the left-hand corner of the City box, tries to slalom his way past Butko. the does enough to create space for a shot, but lashes wide.
City substitution: Bernardo Silva on, Aguero off. So that’s Aguero and Jesus resting up before Chelsea.
82 min: Gundogan cuts out a pass on the edge of his own area and then lopes 60 yards forward. He puts in Aguero, who tries to dupe the last defender by feinting one way and then the other. But, like Pyatov for the penalty, the defender isn’t buying Aguero’s tricks. Shot blocked. It’s like Aguero’s power have evaporated ever since he got within a goal of Eric Brook’s record.
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City substitution: Having thoroughly checked the stadium to make sure Claudio Yacob isn’t on the premises, Guardiola throws on Gundogan. Off trots Silva to a deserved ovation.
79 min:De Bruyne bursts from midfield and tries to release Aguero, but the Argentinian had stopped his run, thinking De Bruyne was going to put through Sterling instead.
76 min: Five Shakhtar players converge on the ref to demand a penalty after Stones inadvertently cuts out a cross with his arm! The official evidently decides that Stones was too close to get out of the way - about three yards - but Shakhtar complain that his arm at no business being outstretched, which it was because he was pointing to where he wanted Walker to cover.
73 min: City have missed some glaring chances in this half - especially that Sterling one and Aguero’s spotkick -, will they be punished with a sucker punch?
Aguero's penalty saved!
That was almost Zaza-esque! Aguero approached the ball with baby steps, hoping the keeper would dive one way so he could go the other. But the keeper faced him down, and Aguero’s shot wasn’t close to the corner so Pyatov was able to push it away. Eric Brook would have scored that.
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Penalty to City!
Sane goes down under a flimsy challenge by Ordets. That didn’t look like a foul on second inspection, but you can see why the ref thought it was on the first.
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69 min: Walker tucks a lovely 20-yard pass down the right wing. De Bruyne, on the run, produces another perfect delivery, obliging Sterling to score from six yards. But Sterling loses his composure, or something, and shanks wide from six yards! How can such a super player finish so badly so often?
68 min: Shakhtar launch a counter-attack down the left. The rapid Ismaily charges past Walker and curls over a dangerous cross, just beyond Ferrerya, who couldn’t quite keep up with his speedy team-mate.
67 min: De Bruyne curls a low freekick into the box from the left. Otamendi tries to flick it towards goal from eight yards but fails to get a true touch.
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66 min: Ordets booked for taking down Silva after City forced Shakhtar to cough up possession again.
64 min: City are bossing this now; Shakhtar seem to have punched themselves out in the first half and are now struggling to match the hosts’ pace. But they’ll not give up hope so long as City only have a one-goal lead.
62 min: The camera picks out Benjamin Mendy making his way to a seat in the crowd, on crutches. We’ll get news of his injury status in the coming days: all we can say for sure at this stage is that he is the third player this season to be struck down moments after I brought him into my fantasy team.
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61 min: Aguero skedaddles into the box at the left-hand corner. But his control abandons him, so a grateful defender whacks the ball out of play.
58 min: City are starting to thrum. They’re lording it in possession terms now. Are Shakhtar waiting for a second wind or have they folded?
56 min: A sublime chipped pass by Silva! On the run, he lifted the ball over the defence from 25 yards out and dropped it into the path of Aguero, who volleyed it at goal from seven yards. But straight at Pyatov, who beats it away!
54 min: Jesus gets a consoling word for Guardiola on the sideline: it’s nice to see a player so depressed at being taken off. It’s also nice to see Sterling on the pitch: he’s been brilliant so far this season.
City substitution: Sterling on, Jesus off. The Brazilian looks downcast, seemingly due to disappointment rather than injury.
52 min: Another good tackle by Delph, this time on Talson, who was excellent in the first half but hasn’t been able to pull so many strings in this one. Delph has defended very well and only been exposed when team-mates have left him outnumbered.
50 min: Butko hares past Delph down the right and collects a pass, then blasts the ball into the danger zone. Otamendi stretches out a leg to clear it at the near post.
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GOAL! City 1-0 Shakhtar (De Bruyne 48)
Marlos plays a slack pass in midfield, straight to De Bruyne, who nudges it forward to Silva. The Spaniard scurries forward, probes a little and then feeds De Bruyne, who’s about 25 yards out, a little to the right. He takes one touch to set himself up and then sweeps a curler into the top corner!
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47 min: Talson gobbles up a weak clearance by Stones. Players stream forward to provide the Brazilian with options for the pass. He slips it wide to an overlapper, but Delph slides in with a fine tackle to snuf out the trouble.
46 min: Here we go again, with the same personnel as in the first half.
Half-time: City 0-0 Shakhtar
Guadiola was not wrong: this is a proper test for City. So far they’re just about holding their own against a very tenacious and slick side, who’ve had slightly better possession and created some clear opportunities. City have posed threats, too, of course, but nowhere near as many as they’ve been used to this season. How will City react to this unfamiliar challenge?
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44 min: Talson flies down the left and then slips the ball through to the overlapping Ismaily, who’s fast enough to stay ahead of Walker before cracking a low cross into the danger area. Stones clears awkwardly.
43 min: As we approach half-time, City are massed in their own half, trying to figure out how to get the ball back. Or, at least, how to prevent Shakhtar from infiltrating.
41 min: Delph feeds Sane, who glides past two defenders and into the box. He bears gracefully down on goal from the left-hand side and slots a pass beyond the advancing keeper ... and inches past the far post!
40 min: A freekick from the right for Shakhtar. It’s dinked over the defence towards the near post, where Ferreyra arrives and gets his head to it from six yards. Just wide!
38 min: City are a tad flummoxed. Shakhtar are defending in such numbers and so well that the home side don’t quite know how to open them up. And the troubling thing for them is that when Shahtar attack, they also do that very well and in good number.
36 min: More danger from Shakhtar! They stream forward down the right, overwhelming Delph before Butko fires over a low cross. Ederson dives low to bat it away with one hand. It doesn’t go very far but, fortunately for him, Otamendi tidies up.
34 min: Sane, mostly on the left so far, wanders across to the right and receives the ball. He jinks in-field and offloads a low curler from 20 yards. Good save by Pyatov!
32 min: Ismaily robs Walker at the edge of the Shakhtar area ... and the skedaddles 60 yards forward! The ball is eventually poked of his foot but Shakhtar reclaim it. Marlos tries a sneaky curler from 20 yards out on the right-hand side, aiming for the bottom left-hand corner. Ederson dives to push the ball away.
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30 min: Jesus pounces on a loose pass by Fred on half-way. He turns provider for De Bruyne, closing in on goal from the left-hand side of the box. But De Bruyne pulls his low shot wide of the near post! He’s sparkled for most of the night but that was poor.
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27 min: “He’s like a quarterback,” coos Owen Hargreaves on BT on the subject, of course, of De Bruyne, who’s just deposited another long bomb on the foot of Aguero. But the Argentinian’s control is not of the same standard, so Shakhtar get a reprieve.
25 min: Stepanenko has an opportunistic pop from 25 yards. It floats way over the bar. Don’t think that counts as goalmouth action.
23 min: We have ourselves a chess match here and it’s quite gripping. But if simple folks like myself will start demanding more goal-mouth action pretty soon.
20 min: De Bruyne is a marvel! He has to be one of the world’s most efficient players: his every touch advances an attack. Just now the ball game to him at knee-height just inside the Shakhtar half and he immediately guided a curling first-time pass around the last defender and towards Aguero, who might have got on the end of it before the keeper if he had been expecting such ingenuity.
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19 min: There’s little goal-mouth action but this is a very interesting game. In particular it’s going to be fascinating to see how City, so dominant so far this season, cope with having to chase the ball for sustained periods. Will their concentration lapse?
16 min: City try to regain the upperhand. After zipping the ball around for a bit, Silva threads a lovely low pass from the half-way line into the path of Aguero, who’s got the run on the last defender. But the goalkeeper is wise to that ploy and he sprints out of his box to boot clear.
15 min: The impressive Bernard curls in a corner from the left. It’s flicked on at the near post but flies past the far one without anyone else getting a touch.
14 min: Shakhtar have turned the tables on their hosts. They’re hogging possession now and looking very dangerous with it. This is indeed shaping up to a be a proper test for City.
12 min: Another lovely, high-tech move by Shakhtar! They’re very nimble technicians and their threat is growing. And this time they open City up, only for an uncharacteristically heavy touch by Fred to allow Delph to make a crucial last-ditch tackle at the edge of the box.
10 min: Snappy passing by Shakhtar takes them to within shooting range for the first time. City shut down any opening, but even Guardiola must admire the passing the interplay that took the Ukrainians so far forward.
8 min: Aguero darts on to a lovely through-ball from De Bruyne, who spoonfed him from the right wing. Aguero’s first touch was good but he didn’t catch his shot quite right so Pyatov makes a more comfortable save than expected.
6 min: A defensive mistake opens the door for City! Rakitskiy bungled his attempted interception, and suddenly Jesus can skitter into the box, down the right-hand side. He pulls the ball back towards Sané in the middle, but Fred had spotted the danger and was well placed to make a timely intervention.
5 min: Shakhtar have looked accomplished so far. City are having most of the ball but the visitors are well organised and not allowing themselves to be opened up.
3 min: Aguero picks up the ball near the left-hand corner of the Shakhtar box. He weaves his way past two players and then tries to curl a shot into the far corner of the net. Almost incredibly, it goes out for a throw. That’s so unusual that even he can’t help smiling.
2 min: No signs of nervousness from the visitors, unsurprisingly. They’re calmly passing the ball around from the back. But as soon as City win it back, it’s clear that the home side’s intentions are more aggressive: they don’t just stroke the ball about, the ping it.
1 min: Off we go. Now that the boos have subsided, the atmosphere is remarkably quiet.
Fashion followers may like to know that City are in their sky blue shirts with white shorts. Shakhtar are in their away outfit, a white number with orange shoulders and sleeves. Their shorts are black.
Boooooooooooooooooo! Yes, it’s the Manchester City Champions League anthem and it’s getting another rousing rendition as the teams stand to attention!
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Guardiola says the time of truth is approaching
The manager has used his pre-match powwow with BT to (a) scoff at suggestions that his team is perfect (b) say he will know the extent of Mendy’s injury in the next day or two and (c) big up Shakhar, saying they will help tell where City are at right now. “They are well organised in zonal marking ... and when they have the ball, they play from the back. They have the ability with one pass to find their team-mates behind our midfield lines and then they are so quick and dangerous. I’ve played against them eight times and I’ve always had the feeling ‘wow, how good they are’! It will be a good test for us to see how is our level now in the Champions League.”
If Braga left today, that would be a good result. But hopefully that doesn’t mean they’ll be negative. City are vulnerable at the back, especially with Mendy missing, and we can expect Shakhtar to try to exploit that. They failed to make the group stages last season but they were confident travellers in the Europa League, scoring five at Gent and four in Braga before winning at Celta Vigo. Evidently being forced to play their ‘home’ matches 500km from their actual home (because of conflict in Ukraine) they’ve got used to play away.
TEAMS
Here you go. Most notable for City - given Guardiola could just pluck names from a golden hat when it comes to choosing his attack - is that Fabian Delph will continue filling in as a left-back/roving midfielder. He’s no Benjamin Mendy but he’s done a decent job in that role in recent weeks. Further forward, the answer to the weekly ‘which brilliant young winger will start this time’ is Sané rather than Sterling. Meanwhile, Shakhar, as ever, have a slew of talented Brazilians, with the midfielder Fred, in particular, reputed to be hot stuff. It’s all very exciting.
City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Delph; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D Silva; Jesus, Aguero, Sané
Subs: Bravo, Danilo, Sterling, Gundogan, Mangala, B Silva, Touré
Shakhtar: Pyatov; BUtko, Ordets, Rakitskiy, Ismaily; Fred, Stepanenko; Marlos, Taison, Bernard; Ferreyra
Subs: Shevchenko, Khocholava, Dentinho, Alan Patrick. Petriak. Azevedo, Kovalenko
Referee: M De Sousa (Portugal)
Preamble
Hello. The theory that Manchester City are an unstoppable force is about to be jabbed and probed like never before. Or unlike any other time so far this season, at any rate. Because on Sunday they face Chelsea and today they host Shakhtar Donetsk, who, on a scale of 1 to 10 - with 10 being European Champions Real Madrid and 1 being Total Crystal Palace - are a 7.5, or thereabouts.
When the draw was made the Ukrainian side were expected to be competing with Feyenoord for the right to meet Arsenal in the latter rounds of the Europa League, but they ridiculed those presumptions by beating Napoli in their first group game. So they’re proper contenders in this group and City surely won’t take them lightly.
Which is not to say that City will do anything other than seek to annihilate the visitors. It’s a beautiful attitude that Guardiola is developing at City, the drive to batter the opposition senseless and then just keep on battering. This is just sport, so there must be no relenting, no pity. City enjoying dancing on their prone victims and you can’t help liking them for that. If you’re going to spend gazillions buying up most of the best players in the world, then you’d better win with imperial swagger and contempt. Entertain us at least, you pompous tyrants, otherwise you’re really just blinged-up bureaucrats.
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