Manchester City: Raheem Sterling’s birthday brace key to 4-2 victory
By Larry Henry
Manchester City ended their UEFA Champions League group stage with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory against Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium.
With the win, and Juventus‘ 1-0 defeat at Sevilla, Manuel Pellegrini‘s side took the top spot of the group heading into next Monday’s draw for the Round of 16.
David Silva gave the hosts an early 1-0 lead after 16 minutes of play. Monchengladbach answered quickly thanks to defender Julian Korb’s strike in the 19th minute to make it 1-1. The visitors made it 2-1 after Raffael found the back of the net in the 42nd minute.
Raheem Sterling tied the game at 2-2 after his left-footed strike in the 79th minute found the back of the net following Wilfried Bony‘s assist.
Sterling extended the City lead to 3-2 just two minutes later, after he slotted Wilfried Bony’s pass to the bottom-right-hand corner.
Bony then put his name on the score sheet as he extended the City lead to 4-2 in the 85th minute after his left-footed shot found the top section of the goal. At the final whistle, Manchester City had topped the group and had themselves a huge result at home.
City had 51% of the possession for the match, and scored on four of their 20 total chances offensively. Monchengladbach had 49% of the possession, and scored on two of their 12 total chances in the game.
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According to BBC Sport, Manuel Pellegrini believes that “if his team can play like they did in the second half, then they can compete with any team”.
Sterling, who was celebrating his 21st birthday also on Tuesday, was the key spark in City’s outburst in the second half of the match.
This is a great result for Manchester City, who have not won their Champions League group in past attempts before. They should be expecting an easier match-up in the Round of 16 then in years past thanks to topping the table.
Pellegrini’s men will look to build on this win as they welcome Swansea City to the Etihad on Saturday in their next fixture in the Barclays Premier League. City is now third in the BPL, after last week’s 2-0 defeat on the road at Stoke City.