Page 28 - Irish Examiner USA

sportsexaminer
28

2019 Sterling Comes Off The Bench Gnabry Scores Four As
To Inspire Manchester City Victory
2nd, Raheem Sterling came off the bench to provide the Bayern Munich Destroy

October spark Manchester City needed to claim a hard-fought
but deserved 2-0 Champions League victory over
Dinamo Zagreb.
Pep Guardiola’s side seemed to do everything but
| score in a one-sided first half at the Etihad Stadium but Spurs in North London
EXAMINER it took the second-half introduction of Sterling to break

the deadlock.
The England forward struck in the 66th minute to
IRISH put City on course for top spot in Group C before Phil
Foden added a second in injury time.
After 19 attempts on goal few could quibble with
the result but City’s lack of a cutting edge, although
key man Kevin De Bruyne was missing with a groin
injury, might be of concern to Guardiola.
The City boss himself did not have a quiet night as
he was booked in the second half for protesting about
a refereeing decision. That came after City had also
been frustrated by the VAR system before the break,
denied a penalty for handball.
City have had little luck with VAR since it was
introduced and another penalty appeal was turned
down late on.
Most of the noise in the ground came from
Dinamo’s small but lively contingent of around 1,300
fans. They even took their tops off en masse at one
point, so much were they enjoying the occasion, but
all the good play came from City. ormer Arsenal winger Serge Spurs – after a pulsating opening – That was as good as it got for
Even without De Bruyne, City looked far too Gnabry embarrassed actually took a 12th-minute lead as Spurs, as Bayern ran riot.
strong and cut through them at will in the first half. FTottenham as he scored a stun- Son eventually made it third time They enjoyed their best spell of
They had a triple chance to take the lead early when ning fourgoalsinBayernMunich’s 7- lucky having twice being denied by the half in the final minutes before
Sergio Aguero went through on goal only to be denied 2 Champions League victory. Manuel Neuer. half-time and it saw them take the
by Dominik Livakovic as he tried to round the keeper. Gnabry, deemed not good Their high-energy press paid lead.
Ilkay Gundogan tried his luck on the rebound but enough for English football after dividends as Dele Alli won the ball, Some sublime skill by
his effort was blocked and Bernardo Silva’s follow-up spells at the Gunners and West which allowed Moussa Sissoko to Lewandowski saw him breeze into
attempt flew over the bar. Brom, produced a quartet of clini- play Son in and this time he buried the area and after Spurs failed to
Bernardo Silva went close again when he volleyed cal finishes after the break to send a low shot past Neuer and into the clear, the Poland striker clinically
wide and Agüero also missed the target after a nice the German champions soaring bottom corner. fired a low shot-on-the-turn into
turn. clear at the top of Group B. It was Son’s first goal against the bottom corner.
Gundogan smashed a shot against the bar and Robert Lewandowski also Bayern after fruitless spells in Bayern ran clear with two goals
David Silva remarkably poked another attempt wide added a brace along with Joshua Germany for Bayer Leverkusen in two minutes after the restart as
from close range. Kimmich’s fine first-half goal as and Hamburg. Gnabry enjoyed his north London
City might also have felt they could have had a Spurs conceded seven goals at But just 194 seconds later the return.
penalty after the ball hit Kevin Theophile-Catherine’s home for the first ever time in a Germans were back level with a First he was allowed far too
hand on its way through the box but neither referee, major competition. goal out of the blue. much room to advance down the
nor VAR, saw anything untoward. Agüero then had a Bayern are supposed to be a They got in behind Spurs down left, cutting inside to drill a fine fin-
strike disallowed for a handball by Bernardo Silva. team in transition but they ripped the right and the ball ended up ish into the bottom corner and
City began to look a bit more labored after the Tottenham apart in the second half with Kimmich 20 yards out and his moments later, after Harry Winks
break and Guardiola gave it only 11 minutes before and look real contenders for this curling strike was too good for the was robbed of possession, he found
introducing Sterling. competition. outstretched hand of Hugo Lloris. the other one after Corentin
It was a change that paid immediate dividends as Spurs had opened the scoring The efforts that rained in on Tolisso’s assist.
Sterling enlivened the City attack from his first touch. through Son Heung-min and goal at both ends were almost as Spurs briefly threatened a come-
After a couple of good runs he then played in David briefly threatened a comeback torrential as the north London back as Kane slotted home a penal-
Silva, whose cutback across goal was anxiously cleared after Harry Kane’s penalty at 4-2 weather and the best of them fell ty after Kingsley Coman’s foul on
by Dinamo. before Bayern ran away with it to Tottenham. Danny Rose and then Sissoko and
Sterling then made the breakthrough himself, turn- with three goals in the final 10 min- Kane almost took advantage of Christian Eriksen missed good
ing in from close range – albeit via deflection – from a utes. some Kamikaze goalkeeping from chances.
Riyad Mahrez cross following a flowing team move. It leaves the Premier League Neuer, who raced off his line, but But Bayern were in the mood to
Sterling continued to trouble the Dinamo defense side in an all-too familiar position after rounding the keeper, the leave their hosts red-faced and they
and was tripped just outside the area, stumbling inside of floundering in the early part of England captain saw his shot produced a devastating final 10
it. Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk gave nothing, the group stage, having had to per- blocked on the line by Jerome minutes.
much to the frustration of Guardiola on the touchline, form a miracle to progress to the Boateng. Gnabry claimed the matchball
and the City boss was shown the yellow card for his knockout stages last year. Then a fast-paced incisive move when he raced clear and slotted
protestations. This hammering, the worst deserved a goal as Kane brilliantly home, before Lewandowski found
City had another penalty appeal late on when under Mauricio Pochettino, will switched play to Serge Aurier the bottom corner in the style
Gundogan was bundled over but, after a lengthy VAR lead to an inquest, and they already whose cut-back was perfect for expected of him.
stoppage, play continued. have work to do if their Ndombele, but the Frenchman’s German international Gnabry
In the end it did not matter and Foden put the seal Champions League journey is not shot was to close to Neuer and the then completed his night to remem-
on the victory in added time as he raced through to going to end before Christmas. German pulled off a smart low ber when he struck a fourth to leave
score following another break by Sterling. C
It seems impossible to think that stop. Tottenham shell-shocked. C