Seville 0 Manchester City 4
Erling Haaland is unavoidable. That, at least, is what was felt in Seville, and what is beginning to be felt in stadiums around the world. Pep Guardiola had insisted that it’s not just about the Norwegian and that if Manchester City don’t play well he won’t win. Here they did play well -reflected in Ederson’s first save, easy, which didn’t come until the 80th minute-, they did win and he did score. Well, of course. Twice, in fact. The man who was racing for a goal every 44 minutes managed two more in 60 en route to a 4-0 victory at the start of another Champions League campaign.
What is expected, that the demands are for them to win everything, should not overshadow excellence. For Sevilla, certainly, there was a feeling that somehow this was always going to happen, that they couldn’t live with City. “And to top it off, Man City,” one headline had said beforehand.
Sevilla came to this in a crisis, a single point from their first four games representing their worst start to a season in 41 years. The last thing they wanted was for Pep Guardiola’s team to appear: the last thing they wanted was him.
The last time they had faced him, Haaland had scored four of Dortmund’s five in a 5-4 aggregate scoreline. Here in this stadium, you could hear the fear every time it was going. The intake of air was audible, the sound of a boot against the ball a boom that echoed around.
The ground was empty then, which may have exaggerated that feeling; it was not empty now, 18 months later, Guardiola inviting people not to miss a stadium that is “special” and, with all his problems, they went up to the roof.
There was a roar as Papu Gomez produced an early nutmeg and that attempt to carry his team momentarily looked like it might work. Sevilla’s start was brilliant. It was also brief, a moment of nervousness inside their own area in the 11th minute that indicated that they had already realized that it could be a long night in which finding a way out would not be easy.
City took control, Jack Grealish came in and hit the side net at the near post. When Haaland started to accelerate from midfield, it was a familiar feeling for Sevilla, backing away but knowing he wasn’t going to leave. On two occasions, Kevin De Bruyne fired wild shots over the crossbar. Marcos Acuña had to cut one off Phil Foden’s toe. It was relentless, in its own way: not intense, as such, and not a storm, but insistent. And then the goal came, something inevitable, both in the execution and in the expectation.
A move that has been seen a thousand times before and could be seen a thousand more, saw Foden hit that little diagonal pass to the side of the full back. De Bruyne walked past him through the other to pick it up and tossed it into the small box. Diving in, leg out, was Haaland.
There were soon whistles from the Sevilla fans, frustrated at the ease with which City were holding onto the ball and looking for something, anything. This was reflected in the roar he received in the first corner and the first shot that came with it, Acuña’s shot that went wide but still taking a “huuy” as if it had been closer. He got louder again as Jesus Navas, Thomas Delaney and Papu combined perfectly for the latter to shoot over the top, a sign that maybe they could play a bit after all.
When Sevilla pressed, there was a feeling of life, of rebellion, and the volume went up. But the insistence that they do so also seemed like it might be inviting them into a trap and the second half brought more chances, wider spaces and more goals for City. De Bruyne, out of defense, was broken by a superb save from Bono, Haaland could have done a little better with a header and João Cancelo struck wide before Rodri bent. And the second goal came, just when Sevilla was going strong.
City fought their way through the press, alone, and was out again. They found room to run, Cancelo found Foden and, inside the area, he switched from one foot to the other, away from Nemanja Gudelj, and finished clean, his low effort going to the corner. A glorious sliced pass from De Bruyne, twisting and turning to the right, then began a move that ended with City walking the ball into the net. The flag was raised; That didn’t count, but what came after did. Foden was there at the time and although Bono made the save, Haaland was there to drive him home.
It was removed shortly after. His work here was done, another complete destruction. However, City’s was not. Rúben Dias converting the fourth in added time. – Guardian
Source: www.irishtimes.com