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Three Takeaways: Manchester City brush aside Marseille

By J.C. Gonzalez

MARSEILLE, FRANCE - OCTOBER 27: Phil Foden of Manchester City in action during the UEFA Champions League Group C stage match between Olympique de Marseille and Manchester City at Stade Velodrome on October 27, 2020 in Marseille, France. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
MARSEILLE, FRANCE - OCTOBER 27: Phil Foden of Manchester City in action during the UEFA Champions League Group C stage match between Olympique de Marseille and Manchester City at Stade Velodrome on October 27, 2020 in Marseille, France. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) /
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Manchester City were on top form as they dispatched Marseille in the Champions League 3-0.

Manchester City were dominant from start to finish in what looked like it could have been a tricky away trip against Marseille on the second day of matches in the Champions League. The home side offered little resistance, and City took an early 1-0 lead before exploding late to kill off a comfortable 3-0 win in City’s best showing of the young season.

1. The Case for Foden and Torres

After calls from the fans, Phil Foden and Ferran Torres were Pep Guardiola’s preferred choices out wide after the teams lethargic display against West Ham. The Catalan’s decision was rewarded with incisive play, another goal for Torres, and routine danger for the French side, even without a true striker in the team. It remains to be seen if this will continue moving forward, but Torres looked better than Riyad Mahrez while Raheem Sterling’s freedom to roam helped him find the end product twice.

2. City’s best defense

Rúben Dias and Aymeric Laporte already look to have the makings of a legendary partnership at the back. Add in the supreme play of Kyle Walker and the forward-thinking, uber-talented João Cancelo? Suddenly, City’s biggest weakness looks to be a strength, and consistency at the back will be key to building chemistry between these four. I hope they play regularly together moving forward and avoid injury to establish what could be the Premier League’s best defense.

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3. A much-needed performance

While the results had been inconsistent for City, the performances had not: they had been somewhere between below average and terrible in just about every game this season. They had looked slow, without drive or passion to be incisive and cause the defense problems, while seeming content to endlessly pass horizontally. That changed today, as while there were moments in which City were lulled to sleep in possession, they also caused problems and were fairly clinical to punish Marseille with three goals. Scoring in bunches has been a real struggle for City this season when it happened routinely in years prior under Guardiola, so here’s hoping that City have once again found their groove moving forward.