Manchester City breeze past Sporting en route to Champions League Quarter-Finals

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Manchester City all but sealed their spot in the Champions League Quarter-Finals with an emphatic 5-0 away win to Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of the Round of 16.

From the first whistle to the final whistle the Portuguese champions were outplayed and outfought by a very special City team.

In the seventh minute, Riyad Mahrez scored a goal that was first of all ruled out for offside, but after a two-minute delay, was finally confirmed by VAR.

From that moment on, there was no doubt who was going to win this match, it was just a case of by how many goals.

Bernardo Silva made it two after 17 minutes before Phil Foden scored City’s third in the 32nd minute from close range.

Silva scored his second of the night shortly before the interval to give Manchester City a 4-0 lead at the break.

The icing on the cake was the fifth and final goal of the night as it went straight into the top corner from 25 yards out from the impressive Raheem Sterling. It looked like his time was potential up this season with City but you have to admire his fight and determination to play his way back into Pep Guardiola’s starting 11.

In truth, City could have scored more on a night where they showed the current gulf in quality between the Premier League and Primeira Liga champions.

Despite the demoralizing and embarrassing defeat at home, the Lisbon fans lifted the roof in the last few minutes of the match in defiance to show what supporting your team is all about.

The return leg in Manchester in three weeks time will be a mere formality and a chance for City to rest some key players and give some of their younger fringe players the chance to get some Champions League knockout stage experience.

Despite the dream scoreline, City boss Pep Guardiola commented after the match that he expects more from his team.

“We can do better. We weren’t at our best but the difference was we were efficient and clinical. It is good but we have to keep going.”

The Citizens’ attention now returns to the league as they host Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening.

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