Here are the City player ratings as Manchester City beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 at the Parken Stadium. The European champions will now return to the Etihad Stadium with a crucial 3-1 lead on aggregate ahead of the second leg.
Goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden were enough for Pep Guardiola’s side to make it 11 consecutive wins in all competitions. The hosts to their credit did make Manchester City earn their victory. After Kevin De Bruyne had opened the scoring in the 10th minute they did equalise through Magnus Mattsen. Mattsen fired home a cracking strike from 20 yards after a misplaced pass from Ederson in the 34th minute.
But City’s quality shone through on the night and goals from Bernardo Silva moments before half-time and Phil Foden deep into second-half stoppage time saw the world champions seize control of the tie.
There was bad news on the injury front with Jack Grealish substituted early in the first half. The European champions will now be sweating on an update on the England international’s injury as they return to Manchester for this weekend’s Premier League clash with Chelsea.
City player ratings
Ederson-4/10: His misplaced pass led to FC Copenhagen’s equaliser. Ederson wasn’t called into action often but his error did prove a costly one. Fortunately, his teammates made sure his error didn’t prove too costly on the night.
Kyle Walker-7/10: Continued his recent good form. Wasn’t beaten defensively and took more care when in possession. A good display from the City captain.
John Stones-7.5/10: Played in his hybrid role rotating between defence and midfield. Was a key player in City’s domination of possession and did his job at the back.
Ruben Dias-7.5/10: Is now well and truly back to the defender he has been during his time at City and put in another quality performance. His poor run of form earlier in the season now appears to be a distant memory.
Nathan Ake-7/10: As always did his job with minimal fuss. A typical Nathan Ake performance.
Rodri-7/10: Did his job in midfield like always. Was outshone by some of his teammates but still did a crucial job for his team.
Kevin De Bruyne-9/10: Another man-of-the-match display from De Bruyne. Scored his team’s opener and dictated the game. Picked up another assist for Foden’s late goal. Superb all display from De Bruyne.
Bernardo Silva-8.5/10: A quality performance from Bernardo. He was all over the pitch and scored with a quality finish to give City a 2-1 lead. Was on the end of a crunching challenge before being substituted.
Phil Foden-8.5/10: Continued his fine form this season with another quality showing. Oozed class whenever he was on the ball and took his chance well for City’s third.
Jack Grealish-6/10: Taken off after 20 minutes with an apparent groin injury. A real shame for the England international as he began the game well.
Erling Haaland-6/10: It wasn’t a bad night for Haaland but it just wasn’t his night though he did toil away. He saw two late chances saved but to his credit, his work rate and body language never dropped.
Substitutes
Jeremy Doku-6.5/10: Threatened on occasions when he came on for Grealish. Doku did display his ability to help City maintain possession which is a good sign of his evolution as a player.
Matheus Nunes-N/A: Not on long enough to mark.
