Manchester City all but booked their place in the Champions League quarter final with a rampant display in Lisbon. The blues tore into the home side with four first half goals, with Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden both on the scoresheet, while Bernardo Silva silenced the home crowd with a brace. Raheem Sterling added a fifth in the second half after Silva was denied a hat-trick by VAR as City made light of what could have been a difficult tie.
The blues went into the match on the back of a 4-0 victory at Norwich on Saturday and restored some of the players rested for the match at Carrow Road. Kevin de Bruyne, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri and Joao Cancelo all started the match, while John Stones once again started at right back in place of the suspended Kyle Walker.
It has been well documented that the blues haven’t won the competition as yet and, after finishing runners-up last season, the blues are looking to go one better and turned in the type of performance in Europe that has been missing in the past.
Within seven minutes, the blues were in front, however it did take a lengthy VAR check to confirm the goal. Cancelo released Silva down the left nd his cutback found Foden inside the penalty area. The youngster’s shot was parried by the keeper, but fell to de Bruyne and, with Sporting players appealing for offside, the Belgian passed to Mahrez, who tapped the ball home.
Replays showed that the Belgian was level when Foden’s shot came in and de Bruyne showed excellent awareness to play the ball to Mahrez, and City were in front.
City continued to dominate and went 2-0 up on 17 minutes, thanks to another brilliant strike from Silva. Mahrez’ corner was headed down by Rodri, and the ball fell to Silva who rifled home off the underside of the crossbar on the half-volley. It was a difficult angle for Silva, but the midfielder set himself up and thundered his shot between two defenders, giving the keeper no chance of keeping it out.
If there was any wind in the Sporting sails, that goal had just taken it from them and opened the door to more City goals. And the next one came just fifteen minutes later.
Mahrez went raiding down the right, and with no challenge, had time to play the ball into the six-yard box. The defence tangled themselves trying to clear the ball and Foden nipped in to steal the ball and apply the simplest of finishes. Two defenders had a chance to clear the ball, before Foden showed composure on his 150th appearance to slot home the third.
On the stroke of half-time, Silva made it 4-0 with another excellent finish after great work by Sterling. The England winger beat the offside trap before laying the ball into the path of Silva, and his shot took a deflection past the keeper and nestled into the goal for 4-0.
It was nothing more than the blues deserved after dominating the half and, with just a quarter of the tie completed, the blues were already looking at who they could play in the last eight.
Silva was denied his hat-trick due to an offside flag early in the second half as the home side breathed a sigh of relief, but the flag couldn’t save them in the 58th minute when Sterling sealed a remarkable victory.
After scoring the perfect hat-trick on Saturday evening, Sterling added a glorious goal to his repertoire from outside the Sporting penalty area. Collecting the pass, Sterling was allowed space by the home defence and given time to pick his spot, before curling his shot round the keeper and into the top corner for 5-0, and with it, cementing his players in City’s all-time top ten scoring charts.
Sporting showed glimpses of what they could do throughout the match but were ultimately taken apart by the ruthlessness of City’s attack. To their credit, many of the home supporters stayed until the end, applauding their side but also giving City a lot of respect for their devastating display.
The blues can now concentrate on three tricky matches that could define their season, with a home match against Spurs on Saturday, before facing Everton a week later, followed by a trip to Peterborough in the FA Cup, before welcoming United to Etihad Stadium for the return derby.
Final Score: Sporting Lisbon 0-5 Manchester City
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