Manchester City cruised past Villarreal 2-0, as they righted the wrongs from their last Champions League outing.
Last time out in Europe, Pep Guardiola’s side dominated Monaco. However, they failed to extend their advantage past a one-goal lead and ultimately paid the price. A controversial late penalty forced the Blues to share the points in the microstate, but they did not repeat their mistakes tonight.
It took just 30 seconds for City to create their first chance, although Villarreal were strong opposition. The hosts had not lost at home for more than seven months but that unbeaten streak came to an end tonight.
There was another streak which showed no sign of stopping, as Erling Haaland scored in his 12th consecutive match for club and country. The striker now has 24 goals in all competitions this season, as he continued at his superhuman scoring rate.
It was Rico Lewis that Haaland had to thank for his latest goal. The 20-year-old got in behind and cut it back perfectly for the Norwegian to finish.
Lewis impressed on just his second start since August – the other coming at Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup. Deployed in a midfield role, the Englishman was central to many of City’s attacks in the first-half. He combined particularly well with Savinho on the right-wing, playing his role in the second goal of the night as well.
Bernardo Silva doubled the lead in the 40th minute as the captain headed home an exquisite cross from Savinho. It was the first City goal scored by a player other than Haaland in almost a month.
The visitors could, and perhaps should, have scored more. However their advantage was sufficient to ensure that they avoided landing themselves in a precarious position in the closing stages.
It was a third successive victory for Guardiola’s side, who have now gone nine matches without defeat. The only negative came shortly into the second half, when Nico Gonzalez was forced off.
Gonzalez has been steadily improving, looking more and more like Rodri with each passing game. Although Gonzalez is still a long way from matching the authority with which the Ballon D’Or winner plays, Rodri’s absence is no longer felt quite as critically as it was in the not so distant past.
Consequently, Guardiola will have been extremely concerned to watch Gonzalez limp off in the 55th minute. Mateo Kovacic replaced him, after recently returning from injury himself, but the Blues will hope it is not a serious issue.