Manchester City Establish Commanding 2-0 Win Against Gladbach In First Leg

By: Madellene Kalunda

Manchester City defeated Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 in the Champions League round of 16 first leg on Wednesday.

Goals from Bernado Silva and Gabriel Jesus not only made it 19 consecutive wins for City, but also saw them create a new English top flight record of 12 straight away wins.

The first goal was from Bernardo Silva in the 29th minute, which was his fifth goal of the season  in his last 13 appearances.

The Portuguese midfield Ilkay Gundogan, with 11 goals in his last 16 matches, has caught the eye more than any of Guardiola’s players recently, but Silva’s input and output should not be overlooked.

The second goal came from Gabriel Jesus in the 65th minute. Jesus netted shortly after the hour mark through an assist from Silva. Hence, Cancelo was the man of the match and there were no surprises as he produced another influential performance.

With City recording a 24th clean sheet of the season, which is one more than in the whole of last term, the result puts the Blues in an excellent position ahead of next month’s second leg decider.

The two sides both played a fairly competitive first half with City setting the tempo throughout, attacking in the early minutes along the left side.

Gladbach were dedicated in their defense, staying mostly organized, and were able to sustain under waves of pressure and various attacks from the English Premier side.

A brief moment inside the box between Raheem Sterling and Ramy Bensebaini caused shouts for a penalty, but was not awarded nor was the moment reviewed. City scored the opening goal just minutes later.

The two sides entered halftime with a narrow one goal gap, and there were no initial substitutions made by either manager to start the second half.

City remained active on the ball and continued to press, while Gladbach attempted to work themselves into possession, though their final pass was still lacking in the final third and frequently they struggled to score.

The Cityzens will return to Premier League action against West Ham United on Saturday and will be aiming to extend their 10-point lead at the top of the table.

Their closest rivals Manchester United and Leicester City are in action the following day against Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.