The Cityzens struck from their very first attack. Foden received the ball, forced his way into the box, and fired a shot to the far post, beating Vindahl. Throughout the first half, the home team continued to apply pressure, but attempts from Haaland and Foden were denied by Vindahl. We also managed to threaten on a few occasions. In the 26th minute, Birmančević’s shot was tipped over for a corner by Ortega, just with his fingertips.
In the second half, City started to ruthlessly capitalize on their chances. In the 58th minute, Erling Haaland scored with an acrobatic finish. After 75 minutes, Stones connected with Nunes’s cross and headed the ball into our net. Shortly after, the home side launched a quick counterattack, and Haaland netted his second goal of the match. Nunes then sealed the 5-0 scoreline from the penalty spot after a foul by Preciado.
Manchester City – AC Sparta Praha 5:0 (1:0)
Goals: 3. Foden (Akanji), 58. Haaland (Savinho), 64. Stones (Nunes), 68. Haaland (Nunes), 88. Nunes (pen.). Yellow Cards: 7. Stones – 87. Preciado. Referee: M. Mariani – D. Bindoni, A. Tegoni (A. Colombo) | VAR: A. Di Paolo | AVAR: V. Marini.
City: Ortega – Aké (74. Gvardiol), Akanji, Stones (74. Dias), Lewis – Silva (69. McAtee), Gündogan (69. Kovačić), Nunes – Foden, Haaland (81. O’Reilly), Savinho.
Sparta: Vindahl – Sørensen, Panák, Vitík– Ryneš (88. Wiesner), Kairinen (88. Solbakken), Laci, Preciado – Birmančević (73. Daněk), Olatunji (60. Rrahmani), Haraslín (46. Krasniqi).
