Published on 14.02.2024
Manchester City began their defense of the Champions League title with a comfortable win against FC Copenhagen in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
They took an early lead thanks to Kevin de Bruyne, and it seemed like they would secure a convincing victory as Copenhagen struggled to pose any threat.
However, Ederson’s poor clearance gifted the ball straight to Copenhagen, who seized the opportunity with a fantastic strike from Magnus Mattsson. Despite this setback, Manchester City regained the lead just before halftime when Bernardo Silva cleverly flicked in a deflected pass from De Bruyne.
"One small step for man...!" 🚀@ErlingHaaland 🤯 pic.twitter.com/NpkrGJfkfz
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 13, 2024
In the second half, both De Bruyne and Erling Haaland had chances to extend Manchester City’s lead. Although they weren’t at their best in attack, they managed to secure a two-goal advantage through Phil Foden’s late goal. Pep Guardiola praised his team for performing on such an important stage and emphasized that there is still work to be done in order to finish the job.
Guardiola expressed his satisfaction with the result overall. The second leg will take place at Manchester City’s home ground on Wednesday 6th March where they will aim to clinch their spot in the next round of competition.
Copenhagen’s first match in two months took place after a winter break in Danish football. Despite this, Guardiola had cautioned that his team would not have an easy time. In the past, the Danes had defeated Manchester United 4-3 at the Parken Stadium during the Champions League group stage and held Manchester City to a goalless draw in 2022.
To start, Guardiola’s side came out strong but were unable to maintain their momentum. Nevertheless, they had numerous opportunities to secure a more significant victory. However, former Liverpool goalkeeper Kamil Grabara played a crucial role in limiting the visitors to just two goals by making impressive saves against Ruben Dias early on and Jeremy Doku in the second half.
In the final moments of the game, Manchester City elevated their performance once again and secured a healthy advantage for the second leg as Foden drove home from De Bruyne’s cutback.
Guardiola expressed his satisfaction with how things unfolded: “Today was perfect,” he said. “The team demonstrated patience at key moments; they were really good.”
He continued by expressing his pride: “I’m really proud of our team. The third goal significantly helped us. Hopefully, we can finish things off at home and progress to the next game.”
