Manchester City 2 Hoffenheim 1: Normal Service Resumed

It seems a long time since we were standing  watching scintillating attacking football in our shirt sleeves at the Etihad Stadium. Last night the bitter chill of winter echoed around Manchester City and despite that, some normal service was resumed.

Hoffenheim to their immense credit came and sought to play attacking football, seeking the result which could carry them further into European competition. They are a tall and strong team, who seemed full of powerful running. Bittencourt opened up the Manchester City defence on a number of occasions and their young Brazilian forward, Joelinton, epitomised their approach. I would imagine both of these players will attract some interest from Premier League sides in the coming months.

This was a different looking Manchester City side, where a combination of injuries and a short recovery time until the next game at 1230 on Saturday, restricted some of the options available to Pep Guardiola. Felix Nmecha even made the substitutes bench, which will be a useful experience for such a young player.

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Guardiola selected a side with a youthful air – the average age was just 24 years – and regardless of the changes in personnel, there was a familiarity about the style and approach. Guardiola had selected Gundogan to operate in a deeper role, replacing Fernandinho and from this position he settled into being able to release our attacking play with some precision quality passing.

The match swerved side to side, like a game of tennis, as the two sides attacked. This pulsing counter attacking made for exciting watching. There was plenty of goal mouth activity. Ederson made a world class save, tipping a goal bound shot athletically around the post at full stretch. But from the resulting corner Laporte gave away what looked like a soft penalty which Hoffenheim converted to take the lead.

Jesus turned a header against the upright, Stones forced a goal line save and Otamendi and Sane also managed to hit the cross bar. There were moments in the cold where we started to think the ball would never cross the line, as though UEFA had installed some new line goal line technology to prevent a goal in punishment for booiing the Champions League anthem.

Just before half time, Sane scored a wonderful 30 yard free kick, which whipped over the wall and dipped into the net. This was struck so hard and swerved so much, it reinforced the view that Sane is equipped increasingly to make the leap into being a genuine contender for European player of the year.

The second half marked the introduction of Kyle Walker to replace Stones, who had sustained a minor knee injury. The game resumed with a similar feel. Somehow Manchester City appeared to miss chances which seemed easier to convert. It felt as though in our search for excellence we were only to be satisfied if we scored the goal of the season. We simply did not want to bother with a tap in, or a cross.

The winner came from Sane who was released into space in the penalty area by Sterling. The crowd willed Sane to shoot but he carried the ball, almost past the onrushing goal keeper and slotted into the net. City attempted to manage the game out, but the attacking kick and rush continued.

Of note during this game was Phil Foden, who fresh from signing a new contract, started alongside Bernardo in central midfield. He grew into the game as the match went on, and did not look out of place. He looks every part of being an integral player in the years to come.

Manchester City finish as group winners and now go into the draw for the knock out stages. This is becoming a habit and hopefully we will get some reward for finishing top. There are only 4 possible teams we can draw on Monday. The best we can hope for is to draw a team who are out of form in February when the Champions League resumes.

There are no easy games in knock out European football, as Manchester City should know, because we always seem to get knocked out. So whatever lies ahead, we will need to be at our best to progress.