Manchester City player ratings: Agüero shines, Gündoğan debuts in UCL rout

In a 4-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach, Sergio Agüero notched his second hat trick in as many Champions League matches, while Ilkay Gündoğan made his long-awaited first appearance for Manchester City.

If there were any concerns about Sergio Agüero being rusty after missing the Manchester derby due to a three-match ban, consider them long forgotten. The Argentine’s blistering form in front of goal continues with another trifecta of goals for Manchester City. Agüero leads our player ratings for City’s comfortable win against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the clubs’ UEFA Champions League group stage opener.

Related Story: Three takeaways from City's 4-0 UCL win over Borussia M'gladbach

In his on-field introduction to Manchester City fans in last weekend’s derby,

Bravo

was both shaky with his hands and his feet; he did not impress. Against M’gladbach, there was little for him to do, but what he did do was vastly improved. That low reaction save in the first half to deny Lars Stindl — the first and only real time he was tested the entire match — was

something

. Plus, there was that nifty bit of sweeping-keeping, as if almost to redeem himself for Saturday’s transgressions, where he flicked the ball over the M’gladbach striker’s head before clearing it away.

Zabaleta

was probably was the least solid of City’s defenders in a solid defensive effort. There were times in the first half when M’gladbach were attacking where he would seem to be out of position, though Zabs recovered well in those incidents. His botched back pass to Bravo that veered just wide of City’s goal was the scariest moment of the match for City.

Maybe it’s just me and my preferred style of play, but

Stones

is just sometimes too indecisive and slow on the ball in possession. There were times Wednesday where the English international took his time instead of playing the easy, if mundane ball directly facing him to start the attack, thus permitting M’gladbach to set up on defense and win the ball back seconds later. Defensively, Stones was fine, but his decision-making is something he needs to improve upon to become an elite center back.

Like a good foil to Stones,

Otamendi

was blunt, direct and thereby more effective in his play. He won the needed aerial duels, and helped suffocate M’gladbach’s front line. There was little space afforded to the German side’s attacking threats thanks to the Argentine.

? How can this be the same lackluster player from last year? The Serbian gave his best performance of the season, linking well with

Raheem Sterling

on the left-hand side throughout the match. He assisted Sergio Agüero with a sumptuous cross and peppered M’gladbach’s goal when he moved into midfielder in the final ten minutes. In short, he did it all.

Pep Guardiola’s

found a way to maximize Kolarov’s versatility, making City more fluid with the ball and Kolarov a pleasure to watch.

Every game, it seems like there is a play where the

Fernandinho

impressively tracks back to block a shot or stymie a counterattack on one end, and there seems like a play where the Brazilian threatens to score on the other end. A box-to-box midfielder indeed and a consistent one at that, Fernandinho continues to be solid at the heart of City. His showing Wednesday reconfirms it.

Both his crosses and finishing were off, yet Sterling again continued to be a focal point for City in the offensive third. His through-ball to Agüero in the second half was a thing of beauty, only outdone by the finish itself. What’s important is that Sterling is consistently commanding the attention of defenses, a claim you couldn’t always make just a few months ago.

Gündoğan

left a good impression in his first match in City blue. Injury ridden for so long, it was a joy to see the German return to the pitch and be pivotal on it. Case in point: He drew the penalty that morphed into Agüero’s second goal of the night. Agüero almost returned the favor, finding Gündoğan on the corner of the 6-yard box. Gündoğan, a bit rusty, I suspect, failed to convert though and make his introduction to the City faithful truly memorable.

It was

De Bruyne’s

shooting that dazzled in the derby; this time on the pitch it was the Belgian’s passing. He kept putting the ball in fun places for City — dangerous places for M’gladbach. Most notably, De Bruyne slotted the ball to debutante Ilkay Gündoğan that resulted in the the German drawing a penalty. De Bruyne also was robbed of an assist when Sterling squandered his one-on-one scoring chance against goalkeeper Yann Sommer in the second half.

Navas

was the exact opposite to Sterling in both position and play. Much of City’s offense didn’t come through his alley, but the services he did play were very good and much better than Sterling’s. The Spaniard, however, still struggled to make much of an impact, and it’s hard to see how he fits into Pep’s greater vision for City other than to play a few minutes here and there.

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Another game, another hat trick. Like a golden goose laying golden eggs, Agüero keeps producing the best at a ridiculous rate. That’s his second three-goal flurry in a campaign only a month old. I guess the only negative comment you could say is that he should have scored more, but who’s really complaining? [A]

All he does is score, and score again he does. The Nigerian teenager ripped one past Sommer at point-blank range after coming on for Agüero late. His goal followed the sort of possession-dominant buildup that made Pep famous at Barcelona — unstoppable, memorizing and demoralizing.

Iheanacho

‘s score seemed to excite Pep the most out of all of City’s goals, and

that’s exciting

.

Sané

replaced Navas in the last ten minutes of the match. In that short window of time, he manage to wriggle through M’gladbach defenders on the touchline before gifting Iheanacho City’s fourth goal. No doubt, Sané

is a special talent

.

Clichy

came on near the match’s end when Pep decided to experiment with a back three. That’s about it.

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