Manchester City continue to quietly impress this season, easing to their second Champions League victory of the league phase with a dominant performance against Villarreal.
The Spaniards, beaten only once in their last 10 home European games prior to this match, didn’t pose much of a threat and by half-time Pep Guardiola’s side were 2-0 up.
Within five minutes City had missed two fine opportunities, the most surprising was the sight of Erling Haaland heading wide from close range.
But Haaland soon put the visitors ahead, finishing a clever move which had started on the right flank when Savinho picked out the surging Rico Lewis who set up the Norwegian.
City doubled their advantage in the 40th minute, the right flank again proving fertile ground, with Savinho’s pin-point cross finding an unmarked Bernardo Silva who headed home for his first goal in this season’s tournament. While City failed to add to the scoresheet after the break, they were nonetheless by far the better team.
City are unbeaten in the Champions League this season and this was a first away win in the tournament for over a year, with their last victory coming against Slovan Bratislava in October 2024 in a 4-0 win.
The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell was at Estadio de la Ceramica to analyse the action.
Has Lewis given Guardiola food for thought at No 10?
There may have been some disappointment when the line-ups arrived showing no Phil Foden or Rayan Cherki. Guardiola had said pre-match that both could play together but he chose instead to start Lewis and Savinho as the pairing on the right of midfield.
Both of their futures appeared in doubt this summer, but Guardiola values their presence in the squad and the club rewarded the pair with new long-term contracts. It was a show of faith, but so far this season their opportunities have been limited.
The first half in Spain was a strong display by both, who combined in the creating of both City goals.
The first goal was a demonstration of the patience and dominance that has long defined City’s football under Guardiola. They played keep ball on the right side of the pitch, continuously moving the ball between Matheus Nunes, John Stones, Lewis and Savinho.
Bernardo Silva celebrates with team-mate Savinho (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Lewis was positioned in the No 10 role and constantly shuttled up and down the channel to create the angle to receive the ball, which showed that this is his strongest position, not right-back where his size is exposed.
He made such a run several times before he eventually ran off the back of his marker to find space in the box. Savinho played a perfectly-weighted pass and Lewis was able to smartly cut the ball back for Haaland to finish.
For the second goal it was Lewis again who was the catalyst, but this time Savinho cut inside onto his left and spotted the run of Bernardo to the near post to head in the second.
Savinho created the most chances (three) and completed the most dribbles (three) in the first half. His assist made it two in as many games and could have had another had his cutback to Lewis early in the game not been blocked.
Guardiola will still want more goal threat from the Brazilian but the combinations with Lewis brought out the best in each player.
Another game, another Haaland goal
Haaland’s opening goal made it 12 games in succession that he has been on the scoresheet for Manchester City or Norway — matching the career-best streak of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese forward at his goalscoring peak has become the gold standard. Like Ronaldo at his best, Haaland — who idolised the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward and studied his movement — looks like he is going to score in every game he plays.
His mere presence troubles defenders and that was the case for Juan Foyth.
Erling Haaland scores Manchester City’s opening goal (Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)
As the play developed in the build-up to the first goal, Foyth became entangled with the Norwegian at the edge of the box. The Argentinian was pushing Haaland to try to stop him gaining momentum, but when Lewis received the ball Haaland exploded across the box at a speed Foyth could not live with and finished high at the near post.
For the second goal, Haaland was again being watched by Foyth. He did not take his eyes off him and Silva used that to his advantage, running from deep into the space vacated at the front post.
Admittedly, Foyth was in an unenviable one-v-two situation but he should have left Haaland and followed Silva. He did not and it summed up the toll playing against Haaland has on a defender.
Gonzalez injury a cause for concern
Nico Gonzalez lives offline. It has been the only way to avoid the inevitable comparisons with Rodri, the man he has been deputising for as Manchester City’s midfield conductor.
On Tuesday, however, there was no way he could avoid Rodri’s shadow. This was his homecoming, the day Villarreal celebrated one of their own with a plaque unveiled outside the stadium in the afternoon to honour their former academy player’s ascension to Ballon d’Or winner.
With Rodri out with a hamstring injury the spotlight was on Gonzalez to impress, which is exactly what he did for the first 57 minutes. He bossed midfield alongside Stones and played with a fluency that suggested his confidence was growing.
But a collision with former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey cut short his evening as he limped off with an apparent ankle injury. It is not good timing for City who have been unable to keep Rodri fit since his return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury and it could force Guardiola to accelerate the return of Mateo Kovacic.
The Croatian came on against Everton, but Guardiola had said he required more time before he could be relied upon for 90 minutes after undergoing surgery on an Achilles injury in the summer.
Having last started on May 20, when he was sent off against Bournemouth, it would be asking a lot of him to step in as the regular number six if the injury to Gonzalez requires time out.
What did Guardiola say?
Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Manchester City manager said: “We played really, really well. It’s true that in the second half we had about 20 minutes where they were superior, but we could have scored earlier. The vibes are good, and the atmosphere is good. I’m happy. We scored the goals at the right time.
“Now we have two home games coming up (in the Champions League), and we have to go out and get all the points. We’re looking ahead to the rest of the competition, and we know that’s the way forward, to keep picking up points.”
What next for City?
Sunday, October 26: Aston Villa (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 10am ET