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Manchester City had representatives across Europe and further afield during the international break, with England, Spain and Brazil amongst the teams in action. Let’s take a look at how the City stars went on.
England
We start with the three lions, who were in action on Friday night in the Czech Republic. Raheem Sterling won a penalty in the opening minutes, which Harry Kane converted, however England threw it away, conceding an quick equaliser before poor defending gave the home side victory.
It was a different story on Monday night, when the England team arrived in Bulgaria. There were concerns about racist abuse before the match, but with England 2-0 up, Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling were targeted for racist abuse, prompting the referee to halt the match while a public announcement was made. The chants continued after England scored a third, and the match was again stopped by the referee as the chants continued.
Sterling then answered the racists by scoring the fourth goal in injury time, before making it 5-0 to England on 69 minutes.
Portugal and Ukraine
Bernardo Silva put the Mendy race row behind him as he scored the opening goal in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Luxembourg, while Oleksandr Zinchenko’s Ukraine recorded a 2-0 win over Lithuania. The two teams met on Monday evening and it was Zinchenko’s Ukraine that came out on top, beating Portugal 2-1.
Spain
Rodri’s Spain moved closer to qualification with a 1-1 draw in Norway on Saturday. The City man came on as substitute in the 78th minute, replacing Mikel Oyarzabal. Rodri started Tuesday’s match as the Spaniards secured their qualification with a 1-1 draw in Sweden.
Germany
City’s Ilkay Gundogan scored twice as Germany recorded a 3-0 win at Estonia. The City midfielder had been at the centre of controversy after liking an Instagram image of Turkish striker Cenk Tosun, which showed some players saluting, which could have been interpreted as support for Turkey’s military action in Syria.
Friendlies
On Thursday, Gabriel Jesus set up Roberto Firmino to score for Brazil in a friendly at home to Senegal. But it was a frustrating night as the visitors levelled through a penalty past Ederson in the home goal. On Sunday, the two featured again in a 1-1 home draw with Nigeria.