Atalanta made it difficult, but Manchester City opened up a five-point gap atop Group C in the Champions League with a 5-1 home win.
Although Italian side Atalanta put up a real fight at the Etihad, even leading 1-0 after a 28th minute penalty, Manchester City turned up the style to dispatch the visitors with five unanswered goals.
Fernandinho stepped in rashly to give Atalanta a penalty in the 28th minute which Ruslan Malinovskiy dispatched past a diving Ederson to give the visitors a shock lead. City wasted little time in responding, however, with Sergio Agüero grabbing two goals in four minutes to give the home side the advantage heading into half time.
Atalanta made wholesale changes at the break, taking off talisman Alejandro Gómez and bringing on pacy forward Luis Muriel, who scored two goals in the weekend’s 3-3 draw with Lazio in Rome.
From that point, however, City put together some stunning displays of attacking football to take complete control of the match. Raheem Sterling grabbed his hat-trick in the second half after winning the penalty for Agüero’s second to give City the lead. The star English winger scored the 80th goal of his City career in a masterful performance.
It was not a perfect day at the office for the Blues, however. Rodri pulled up injured with a hamstring issue, further complicating City’s injury crisis at the back. John Stones came on to replace the Spaniard alongside Fernandinho, and could make his first Premier League start since the 3-2 defeat at Norwich this weekend.
Phil Foden was handed a rare opportunity by manager Pep Guardiola, and had made the most of it by recording an assist for Sterling’s second, but was sent off in the 82nd minute for a second yellow. While the first appeared to be a soft foul, the first red card of his senior career will prove to be an important learning experience.
Overall, while Atalanta did provide chances throughout the match, City showed their quality to get the result. Alongside Sterling and Agüero, Riyad Mahrez and Kevin de Bruyne put in excellent performances going forward as the Citizens continued their perfect start to the Champions League campaign.
City will face Atalanta once again in their next European match, although it will be at the San Siro, home of Inter and AC Milan due to UEFA regulations and renovations to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.
With Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk playing out a 2-2 draw elsewhere in Group C to leave both teams level on four points, City have placed a firm grip on top spot and their seventh consecutive appearance in the competition’s knockout phase.