Five Things Learned: Villarreal 0-2 Manchester City (UEFA Champions League) | OneFootball

Manchester City cruised to a 0-2 away win against Villarreal on Tuesday night, as first-half goals from Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva ended a winless run of five away UEFA Champions League matches.

City started sharper than the Yellows and almost took the lead after just 28 seconds when Savinho intercepted a loose ball to pass into Erling Haaland, who played the ball back to the Brazilian and over to Jeremy Doku, whose shot was saved by Luiz Junior. 

Manchester City dominated the opening proceedings, racking up a staggering 74% of possession in the first six minutes, and getting their reward just 10 minutes later. Savinho found an over-lapping Rico Lewis who, in very similar fashion to City’s first Premier League goal of the season away to Wolves, played a low cross to Haaland who smashed a right-footed strike into the roof of the net – the Norwegian’s 24th goal of the season in all competitions.  

The Yellow Submarine then came forward themselves inside 30 minutes, as Pape Gueye fired an effort towards the far post that was inches wide. But five minutes before half-time, City doubled their lead as Savinho capitalised on some poor defending and crossed to a free Bernardo Silva, who headed into the bottom right corner under no pressure.

10 minutes into the second-half, Manchester City were dealt with an injury blow when Nico Gonzalez went to ground with some discomfort in his right-foot following an earlier collision, and limped off the pitch to be replaced by Mateo Kovacic.

City continued to control the game bar a brief spell of Villarreal chances around 70th minute where Gianluigi Donnarumma’s quiet evening was interrupted by a Gueye shot on target, beaten away by the Italian, as well as a Nicolas Pepe header that was agonisingly wide.

The former Arsenal forward then struck on the volley from close range, but his shot was well over the bar. Erling Haaland would hunt for his second goal in the closing stages, first latching on to a lovely ball from Kovacic in behind the Spanish defence, before taking the ball down with his left foot and unleashing a half volley saved by Junior.

A few minutes later, the Norwegian international took the ball away from Villarreal defenders on the edge of the area before looking to strike into the far corner, but his shot was once again saved by the goalkeeper. 

Villarreal almost found their goal when Pepe’s out-swinging corner found Tani Oluwaseyi, who rose above Josko Gvardiol but his header hit the woodwork. And that was pretty much the last attack of the game for either side as City came out of Eastern Spain with all three points. 

Here are Five Things We Learned from Manchester City’s well-earned and largely dominant win over Villarreal on Tuesday night!

Starting to get our mojo back?

It’s no question that Manchester City had a poor season last year to their standards, not just in the way of a lack of major silverware but the way they played on the pitch.

For the majority, passes were often sloppy and build-up was slow but this season something has changed for the better. We’re used to seeing the Blues knock the ball about with purpose and at pace, which is exactly what we’re now seeing. The chemistry of the team looks so much better already and it’s a real treat to see, with link-up play between players clear and City looking like they’re oozing with confidence.

When you think of Manchester City’s most successful teams under Pep Guardiola – the centurions, the domestic quadruple winners, the treble winners – players played with purpose and knew their roles. Very early in the season, it seems as though City have that fire back, and Erling Haaland certainly does.

Rico Lewis said during his post-match assessment that City have ‘got their confidence back’ following the win. “That’s the main thing,” said Lewis. “When you’re playing with confidence, there’s nothing really that can stop you but yourself.

“Everyone trusts each other, and you see the players who played today; everyone’s got trust, we all want the ball, and there’s nothing better.”

Erling Haaland is a force of nature!

Another goal, 24 for the season, equalling Cristiano Ronaldo’s career best haul of scoring in 12 consecutive appearances for club and country; Erling Haaland just doesn’t stop and looks better than ever.

He is scoring at a rate that is unbelievable and doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon. It almost feels inevitable he’ll score in any game he plays and defenders must just know it’s coming at some point. A lot of the goals this season have opened the scoring in matches, key to breaking the deadlock.

The build up from the 25-year-old looks better and better with every game and Pep Guardiola said the other day that this is the best Erling Haaland he’s seen so far. Everything is just perfect for the striker at the moment. Everything he touches turns to gold, or for his sake, goals.

Rico Lewis x Erling Haaland

Rico Lewis hasn’t been given a lot of game time this season but when he has, he’s always setting up Erling Haaland. The 20-year-old was given a starting role in midfield on Tuesday night, alongside Bernardo Silva and Nico Gonzalez, and provided the assist for Manchester City’s opening goal.

Lewis is a player who is very good in the pockets, and excels in these positions. Sometimes his physicality can be questioned but his ability on the ball and ability to play a pass is clear. He can drive into the penalty area and play a cross to Haaland with ease, as we’ve already seen twice this season.

Pep Guardiola praised the youngster following the match. “I adore that player; he’s so intelligent, he’s so clever in small spaces,” said the Manchester City manager.

He continued, “Against more duels he struggles a little bit more, but against teams like Villarreal that move and are zonal marking exceptionally, you have to have players that move really, really well in those positions. And Rico is a top, top class player when you have to play in that way.”

Savinho is on the rise!

Savinho is a player who has faced plenty of criticism in the last year or so. He is a creative player, but when it comes to finishing, it seems inconsistent. However, the Brazilian has now accumulated an assist in each of his last two matches.

He is a flashy player with plenty of skill and has no issue with breezing past defenders, but his finishing is inconsistent. The 21-year-old has scored four goals for Manchester City, but provided 13 assists.

It seems a case of if he can improve his finishing, then we have a top class player on our hands, And of course, he’s still young and fairly inexperienced so there’s plenty of time to improve which it seems he already is doing. But nonetheless, this season seems like an improvement already for Savinho, and he is a key player in the squad.

Domination

Before last season, we were used to seeing Manchester City dominate possession, shots, and almost anything in a match of football against almost anyone. And it feels like we’ve seen that more this season.

Villarreal had one more shot than Manchester City on Tuesday night with 11 to Pep Guardiola’s players’ 10, but the Premier League side made theirs count with seven shots on target to Villarreal’s two.

Possession-wise, Manchester City held the majority of the ball, finishing the game with 66% in their favour. The clash in Spain felt like a controlled performance with limited danger and that’s something that will have to happen often to see City return to their best, especially against teams who play a low block and will be difficult to break down.