Guardiola had not been able to win at Parken on two visits, one with Barça and the other with City, but then he did not have an excellent Kevin de Bruyne like the one who yesterday led the choral symphony of the Champions League champion. The Belgian, with a goal and two assists, took advantage of a Copenhagen team that was lacking rhythm after two months without an official match and that looked overwhelmed.
There is a defining detail that perfectly explains how well City plays football, what its players enjoy on the pitch. He was captured in the 16th minute. Jack Grealish was injured, feeling a puncture in his pubis, and he took off the headband from his hair and threw himself to the ground in disgust. The footballer does not think about losing his position in the national team, neither in the Euro Cup nor in the next games to come. He gets angry because he won’t be able to continue playing and having fun against Copenhagen. Doku entered his place.
And something similar happens a few minutes later when Foden asks for the assistance to come in to assist him. He fears he has hurt his left knee. He dreads having to leave his place.
Because Manchester City dominated football during the first half hour at Parken. Inspired by De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, the reigning champion monopolized the ball in a recital of passes, controls, movements, walls and vision to create one chance after another against Grabara, the masked goalkeeper.
De Bruyne and Dias were able to score with a header, and Aké was on the verge of making it 0-1 on a point-blank rebound. On the fourth, in the 10th minute, the goal came. Dias found Foden wide open on the right, who filtered to uncheck the Belgian in the area. De Bruyne, who is eating the grass after being unemployed for five months, did not forgive with a trademark dry and crossed shot.
The Belgian, who had not played in the Champions League since the final against Inter – in which he was injured in the first half – led the citizens’ storming start. The hosts were so overwhelmed that Vavro almost beat his own goalkeeper in a clearance that hit the crossbar. And after another delicate play, Rodri enabled Doku from above, whose first cross was finished off in the air by Haaland with a spectacular scissors that he could not direct well.
The young Danish coach Neestrup, 35, had been naive thinking that he could play with a 4-3-3 against City. However, despite the visitors’ dominance, Copenhagen was able to get into the game after an error in Ederson’s pass. The goalkeeper handed it to Achouri, whose shot was blocked by Rodri. The rebound fell to Mattsson who scored powerfully to make it 1-1.
The Danish team had scored in all three group stage games and repeated. But that did not allow him to even go into the interval on equal terms because at the edge of half-time De Bruyne’s insistence on not giving up a ball was rewarded and the rebound favored Bernardo Silva, who with the outside and a sublime touch overcame the half-way mark. from Grabara to make it 1-2.
With the result in their favor, City was not satisfied but only Grabara’s stops and Haaland’s bad night prevented a score that could have been increased and it was only 1-3 with Foden’s final goal, which was the only one that He beat the Polish goalkeeper.
Copenhagen: Grabara, Jelert, Vavro, McKenna, Diks, Mattson (Larsson 81), Falk, Diogo Gonçalves (O. Hojlund 70), Elyounoussi, Claesson (Cornelius 55), Achouri (Sorensen 81).
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Aké, Rodri, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva (Matheus Nunes 78), Foden, Grealish (Doku 21) and Haaland.
Goals: 0-1 De Bruyne (11); 1-1 Mattson (34); 1-2 Silva (45); 1-3 The foot (90).
Referee: Sánchez Martínez (Spain). He gave a yellow card to Falk, Diks and the coach, Jacob Neestrup.
Incidents: First leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League played at the Parken stadium in Copenhagen in front of 35,853 spectators.
