Raheem Sterling stars as Manchester City put five past Atalanta in win soured by Phil Foden red card
Another masterclass from Raheem Sterling, another straight-forward win and another step closer to securing top spot in their Champions League Group, but Manchester City are answering questions nobody really needed to ask.
It is not City’s fault they were too powerful for Atalanta and they cannot be blamed for making their progression into the knockout stage look so routine; so predictable, but it is the tougher tests ahead, the true examinations that come after Christmas that they need to pass.
Three wins from three so far does not tell us anything we did not already know. City are the strongest side in their group and will almost certainly secure their place in the next round with games to spare. They are slick and ruthless and even when they fall behind, against this calibre of opposition, Pep Guardiola’s side are not going to be troubled much.
The worry is, they are not been pushed and are not being challenged. We still have no idea how they will do against better sides when the pressure is on. All we can do is wait, watch the Premier League champions flex their muscles and try to enjoy seeing them crush teams in such a brutal fashion.
Atalanta have been a breath of fresh air in the otherwise stale Serie A, qualifying for the Champions League for the first time, shoving aside the old guard, caring little for the famous names and gilded reputations of Roma, Lazio, AC Milan and Inter.
Whatever Atalanta have added to their domestic football, it has not crossed the Italian border. In Europe, pragmatism tends to trump romance and defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donestsk, both comfortably beaten by City in the group, have only served to remind Italians of how far they have fallen behind, not just the richest most powerful clubs on the continent, but also the champions of Croatia and Ukraine.
City knew they had nothing to fear from the third best team in Italy. Maybe that was the problem because Atalanta were sharper and brighter, pushing City back in the opening exchanges and had Josip Ilicic taken control of a through ball he would have been left with only Ederson to beat.
Atalanta had found a gap between City’s centre backs – the young Spanish defensive midfielder Rodri once again preferred to England defender John Stones alongside Fernandinho – after only a few seconds and created an even better chance soon after, Timothy Castagne getting on the end of a Robin Gosens cross, but he was unable to direct it on target.
City were poor, their passing sloppy, their defending shoddy. They were doing a fine impression of a team going through the motions, a team that had turned up expecting an easy night, shocked to discover Atalanta had no intention of giving them one.
They tried to clunk through the gears, but it was hard work. Even a well oiled machine like City takes a while to get going.
Atalanta capitalised and when Fernandinho stuck out a leg in a half-hearted attempt to tackle Ilicic, all he succeeded in doing was giving the Slovenian something to trip over inside the area, the penalty converted by Ruslan Malinovskyi. The shock of falling behind was like an electric shock for City’s players. Jolted into life, the response was swift, Sterling doing the damage down the left, before cutting the ball back for Sergio Aguero to sweep in the equaliser.
That was more like it and Sterling was again involved heavily in the second goal, shimming his way into the area, causing panic in the defence before he was bundled over by Andrea Masiello. Aguero did the rest from the spot.
Having taken the lead, City were never likely to give it up again. Atalanta were beaten, they just did not realise it yet.
The third goal came quickly after half time, Phil Foden the architect this time, as he delivered a simple tap in for Sterling. It was excellent work by the youngster.
Sterling had his second a few minutes later, Ilkay Gundogan’s sublime pass, slicing through Atalanta’s defence, before he smashed a shot into the roof of the net.
And the match ball was his before the end, his clever movement finding the space to finish clinically from Riyad Mahrez’s cross.
The contest was over, which is why Foden’s sending off, for two yellow cards shown for needlessly pulling the shirt of opponents will irritate Guardiola. Foden did well in his first Champions League start of the season, but it ended on a sour note.
Player ratings
Manchester City (4-3-3)
Ederson 7; Walker 6, Fernandinho 5, Rodri 5 (Stones 41), B Mendy 6 (Cancelo 71); De Bruyne 7 (Otamendi 67), Gundogan 8, Foden 6; Mahrez 7, Aguero 8, Sterling 9
Subs: Bravo, Jesus, B Silva.
Booked: Foden, De Bruyne, Otamendi
Sent off: Foden
Atalanta (3-4-1-2)
Gollini 5, Tolol 5, Djimsiti 4, Masiello 4 (Pasalic 45); Castagne 5, De Roon 5, Freuler 5, Gosens 7; Malinovskyi 7; Ilicic 7 (Hateboer 72), Gomez 5 (Muriel 45)
Subs not used: Sportiello,, Arana, Ibanez, Barrow
John Stones post-match
I don't know if a lot of English people know about Atalanta but we did our research this week, knew they were aggressive.
Two top players to play in a different position they're not used to. Rodri's slotted in brilliantly, credit to him and Dinho for helping him. We work a lot in training so we can almost play blind. It's been good to be back out on the pitch on a personal note and upset that Rodri's got a little injury.
On not being ready to come on as a sub:
I had [my shinpads] on but needed to fix them up properly, time's of the essence.
FULL TIME
A nervy start but a thrashing by the end. Sterling was superb, Foden was brilliant and the referee has really wound up Guardiola, who goes to the fourth official at the full time whistle and gives him some more friendly words of advice.
90 mins+3 - Man City 5 Atalanta 1
Another yellow card for City as Otamendi flies in from behind on Muriel and fouls him. The free-kick is saved low at the near post, a corner comes to nothing... and that'll be that.
90 mins - Man City 5 Atalanta 1
City are just passing the ball around the whole pitch. The game's done.
87 mins - Man City 5 Atalanta 1
Mahrez is away on the counter, pulled down... and no yellow card. Weird decision making from the referee - why was it a yellow for Foden?
85 mins - Man City 5 Atalanta 1
Guardiola goes to the fourth official in a 'See? See why you shouldn't have booked him?' kinda way. There's an argument that on a yellow card Foden should never have grabbed the arm of the forward he was chasing... but I don't even think it was a foul.
RED CARD!
Phil Foden is off! For nothing! A second yellow card for lightly grabbing a forward's arm. It's a really harsh decision but the first yellow was ridiculous and a terrible bit of refereeing. Gutting for Foden.
80 mins - Man City 5 Atalanta 1
Walker tries to dribble when he shouldn't, Stones is beaten way too easily in a one v one and Muriel wins a corner. Luckily for both Man City players, nothing comes of it.
77 mins - Man City 5 Atalanta 1
Sterling has just missed a one vs one with absolutely nobody near him. Ederson finds Foden with a forward pass, Foden turns and puts Sterling clean through on goal and somehow he puts it wide.
Foden is booked for... not much. Guardiola isn't happy about it and runs to berate the fourth official.
75 mins - Man City 5 Atalanta 1
Great save by Ederson! A corner curled to the penalty spot is headed down at goal and Ederson dives to turn it away from the post. Superb.
72 mins - Man City 5 Atalanta 1
City make their final substitution as Mendy is taken off for Cancelo. Ilicic is replaced by Hateboer.
GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!
Man City 5 Atalanta 1
STERLING SCORES A HAT-TRICK! More wonderful City approach play, lots of one-twos and short round-the-corner passes, and Mahrez sends a pass towards Aguero and Sterling, the latter sprints into space and finishes before the goalkeeper can reach the cross.
68 mins - Man City 4 Atalanta 1
Otamendi comes on for De Bruyne, which will mean Fernandinho goes into midfield.
GOAL DISALLOWED
Well they did say there would be goals. And by 'they' I mean the ex-footballers on BT Sport, who were correct. Well done football lads. You win again.
Atalanta link some passes together, Ilicic hits the post and then the follow up shot finds the net. But Ilicic was offside.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!
Man City 4 Atalanta 1
Yeh it's easy now. Sterling turns his man inside out and scores his second!
64 mins - Man City 3 Atalanta 1
City have work to do in defence as Ilicic has two chances to shoot in a row inside the box. City's defence pulled apart by some fairly basic passing but Ederson there to keep it safe at the back.
De Bruyne is booked for accidentally catching Freuler with his hand. The boy goes down howling and the two shake hands afterwards, with De Bruyne raging at the referee for booking him for no reason.
61 mins - Man City 3 Atalanta 1
Ederson makes his first not absolutely perfect long pass of the day and gives possession away. City in total control anyway.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!
Man City 3 Atalanta 1
STERLING SCORES! Brilliant move. Mahrez fires a ball down the right wing and puts De Bruyne away on the attack, he finds Foden in the box, who takes a touch and sets up Sterling for the goal. The vision to spot Sterling over his shoulder... Foden is magic.
55 mins - Man City 2 Atalanta 1
Sterling skips past two challenges on the left, looks for Foden and is blocked. The ball goes back, is crossed in and De Bruyne goes for a volley from 25 yards which is deflected wide.
53 mins - Man City 2 Atalanta 1
Heavy challenge by De Root and Gosens on Aguero... and he's stayed down for a while after it. They both go in on him, one from behind and the other straight through the shins. Neither looked too bad to be fair but Aguero's felt the impact.
50 mins - Man City 2 Atalanta 1
Keown says "Coaches used to say to me 'be prepared or be prepared to fail'". Wise advice from Keown, who has used the opening few minutes of this half to talk about Atalanta in a way that shows he actually has done his research on them. As in he actually seems to know loads.
47 mins - Man City 2 Atalanta 1
Gomez and Masiello off... Muriel and Pasalic on. That might be a change of shape for Atalanta, with a back four.
KICK OFF 2
We're back.
Aguero is good
Only Wayne Rooney (23 at Old Trafford), has scored more CL goals at an English stadium than Aguero has at Etihad (21)
HALF TIME
A great recovery from Man City who took most of the half to realise they were playing against a seriously dangerous opponent. Foden and Sterling the standouts.
45 mins - Man City 2 Atalanta 1
Another quick attack from City and another one involving Sterling and Foden. Foden bursts to pace to reach a loose forward ball from Sterling, puts Sterling back in and then the goalie comes off his line to give away a corner.
That corner ends up swerving and bouncing to Walker on the edge of the area. He lines up the shot and powers it towards goal but the keeper parries away!
42 mins - Man City 2 Atalanta 1
I want to know where this black eye came from. Guardiola was absolutely raging with Stones that he wasn't ready to come on straight away.
41 mins - Man City 2 Atalanta 1
Bad news for Man City - Rodri has gone down off the ball and it looks like his hamstring has gone. John Stones, sporting a black eye, is getting ready to come on. Guardiola angrily tells Stones to hurry up and get ready.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!
Man City 2 Atalanta 1
AGUERO SCORES AGAIN!
What a penalty this is too. He absolutely slams it into the side netting - no goalie is getting near that.
PENALTY!
Sterling is taken out by Masiello and it's a penalty.
36 mins - Man City 1 Atalanta 1
Ilicic is drifting wide into space behind Mendy on the Atalanta right and I wonder how deliberate of Guardiola that is. And as I type that, Man City go up the other end, Sterling goes down AND THAT MUST BE A FOUL!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!
Man City 1 Atalanta 1
AGUERO SCORES!
Foiden to Gundogan to Sterling, who cuts onto his right and chips a lovely ball into the area onto Aguero. He taps it past the goalkeeper for his 70th goal in European football.
34 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 1
Rodri's getting frustrated and leaves a bit on his man by the wing. It's not quite working for City yet. In saying that, honestly I'd not be surprised if they scored four in the next 10 minutes.
32 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 1
Atalanta are good at football. This is what we have learned so far.
30 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 1
Martin Keown is highly critical of Fernandinho for that penalty, saying the difference between a natural centre-back and a midfielder is the defender spots danger and gets to it first, while Fernandinho was waiting for the man to come to him. "You should know which way he's going to go, do you research," he says.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!
Man City 0 Atalanta 1
Malinovskiy steps up and slams the ball into the left of the net. Ederson goes right!
PENALTY TO ATALANTA
Oh dear! Fernandinho is one v one with the forward, doesn't move quickly enough and leaves a leg in. Definite penalty.
27 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Mahrez doesn't seem to think he can do the right sided centre-back for pace and keeps going inside onto his left foot. Atalanta win the ball in their own half, attack quickly... and IT'S A PENALTY!
26 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Foden is causing havoc to this Atalanta team. He's dribbling round them, moving in and out of space to link passes and now he's gone round the outside of a defender to the line, gliding past a tackle and setting up Aguero for a shot. The striker blasts over the bar.
24 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
City are starting to find their rhythm now and are moving the ball around beautifully. De Bruyne and Foden are pulling the strings, the latter playing a first time touch that put Sterling clean in behind to cross low to Aguero. It's put juuuuuust slightly behind Aguero and the chance is gone.
City come forward again, Aguero shifts onto his right foot from 25 yards and wins a corner. Great effort equalled by the save.
21 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Ilicic gets a shot at goal from 20 yards but it's harmless and easily saved. That came after a nice passage of play in Atalanta's half where City tried to move the ball from side to side but lost it too easily.
Mahrez and Walker are currently playing 4 out of 10 games at the moment.
18 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Great play by Foden. Mendy goes long to Sterling, bypassing the high press, Sterling takes it down on the chest and plays in Foden, who drives at goal and plays a scrappy one-two with Sterling before moving into the box. He's shoulder to shoulder with the defender and goes down... but there's no foul.
16 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Rodri drops into a back four when City are defending but stays with Gundogan in midfield when in possession. The bigger and more relevant problem is that players higher up the pitch don't seem to be able to keep hold of the ball, so the team is constantly switching shape and don't look settled at all.
14 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
This is what City look like when building from the back but it's basically putting them one v one with Atalanta's forward line and any loose bit of control is resulting in turnovers.
12 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Great chance for Castagne! Man City have started really poorly here - another chance to cross from the left wing and the ball is dinked to the back post where the Atalanta winger misses with the header.
10 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Mahrez gets lucky trying to touch and turn inside his own half with a midfielder tight to his back. The referee gives a foul but it does seem fortuitous.
De Bruyne is caught by Masiello with a sliding tackle. He's booked for it, City have a free-kick in a decent position. Atalanta's starting position is really deep.
8 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
City's buildup play doesn't look as assured as normal. They're leaving Fernandinho fairly exposed by having Mendy and Walker partner him in a three as Rodri joins Gundogan to take the ball forward. At the moment Atalanta are winning the ball back in their own half easily.
5 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Ederson is going long from goal kicks early on, perhaps as an instruction to avoid the counter-pressing of Atalanta. They like to do that.
Mendy loses control of the ball and stretches while trying to nick it away from Ilicic. It's a foul and an early yellow card.
Ilicic is threaded into space inside the box... somehow... but Fernandinho recovers after a poor first touch. Hmmmmm. Man City's defence not looking awfully sure of itself.
3 mins - Man City 0 Atalanta 0
Atalanta get up the pitch early on and a bouncing ball is launched high into the area. Ederson doesn't collect it confidently and Gundogan clears the thing away to be safe. De Bruyne gets a chance to attack shortly after but crosses out for a goal kick.
KICK OFF
City get the game started.
Man City fans boo the Champions League song
But then weirdly shout along to THE CHAAAAAAMPIONS at the end. Maybe they're starting to warm up to this whole Uefa thing.
Here come the players
It's time for the Big Game... but first... the official theme tune of football.
Joe Hart on Guardiola
I'm paraphrasing a lot of this but the general gist of what Joe Hart says is this:
He's a genius. I think winning isn't enough - he wants to go home after his team have beaten the opponent, it's not enough to win 1-0.
He's demanding but the beauty is his demands have to be met or you're out. If a manager's not thought of this highly you just wait for them to be sacked.
Pep Guardiola interview
Guardiola has told BT Sport that he it won't bother him at all if he doesn't win the Champions League at Man City, because everywhere he goes his teams play the way he wants. It's hard to believe he isn't desperate to win it but that is a separate point. His reaction to the question is that his teams play great football and that's what he wants - and he wins too.
As for Atalanta as an opponent:
I'm not surprised, when I watch yesterday, today, I have some friends who say how difficult it will be. We have to be sharp, clever.
Joe Hart's tie
Is it the collar? Did he not plan to wear a tie in the first place? What is wrong with this outfit? I do not know enough about clothes or ties to be able to tell.
More on Foden
To give you some actual age related data on it: Foden has 19 first team Man City appearances and is 19. He turns 20 in May, which means he'll almost certainly finish the season with a total of about 29-40 games.
Andres Iniesta had played 28 times for the Barcelona first team before turning 20 (also in May...) in 2004. The following season he was a first team regular, just like Foden will be next season.
Phil Foden in the team
Joe Hart has been speaking about Phil Foden on BT Sport:
We all want to see Phil Foden play but at the same time he doesn't have anything to prove. He has Man City and Pep Guardiola believe in him, they believe in him around the players he's around . There's an obvious succession with David Silva and when he is in the team, it's after four years. Alright he won't have 100 appearances to show anyone, but he's shown it to everyone.
Andres Iniesta didn't break properly into the Barcelona first team until he was 20 so I'd say Foden's doing fairly OK for now. He is one of the important midfield two next season and will play plenty of minutes in one of the best teams in Europe this season - the development plan is clear and seems to be working.
The starting lineups on Twitter
Your team for tonight! ��
XI | Ederson, Walker, Rodrigo, Fernandinho (C), Mendy, Gundogan, Foden, De Bruyne, Sterling, Mahrez, Aguero
SUBS | Bravo, Stones, Jesus, Bernardo, Silva, Cancelo, Otamendi.
�� #ManCitypic.twitter.com/GzaKdpKRS3— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 22, 2019
Otamendi and Stones on the bench.
Starting lineups
No actual centre-backs for Manchester City tonight - Guardiola either thinks his side will have all the possession or doesn't have any central defenders available for selection...
The Chaaaaaampions
Hello and welcome to our liveblog for the latest episode of 'Man City's Adventures in Europe', a show that tends to start quite slowly but gets exciting midway through a series. There are big name stars, lots of action, and tonight the antagonist is a supremely talented rival manager who has turned Atalanta from that team you recognise the badge of, to playing against Man City in the Champions League.
You've seen that badge. It's always on Fifa or Pro Evo but you never ever go as them. "They'll be full of 70 rated players, I'll get pumped" you say to your friend, before hitting the square button another time to get a better random choice of side. Then you end up with a Japanese team who are even worse but end up winning 1-0 against your pal's Real Madrid. Ahhhh university was good.
Anyway, in real life Atalanta are very decent these days - rated a 79 overall on Fifa 20 no less. Man City are a far higher 86 for context, but that might help suss out what we should expect.
Duvan Zapata, Josip Ilicic, and Alejandro Gomez are the stars of a team that always plays in a variation of 3-4-3 or 3-4-1-2 and Gian Piero Gasperini is the mastermind behind it all. Pep Guardiola will have warned his players not to be complacent after doing the same thing in his pre-match press conference but there's not much he can do once the game kicks off.
Stay with us for all the build up and action from the Etihad.
