Player Ratings

Gladbach 0-2 Manchester City Player Ratings: Bernardo Silva inspires one-sided victory

Pep Guardiola's side were barely threatened in the most straightforward of Champions League wins, but who performed best?

 
10:50pm on Wednesday 24th February 2021
By
Chris Myson

Manchester City took a huge step towards the Champions League quarter-finals with a comfortable victory over Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday.

Goals in each half from Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus gave City a 2-0 ‘away’ win in a first-leg clash that was played in Budapest.

City are therefore in complete control of their last-16 tie ahead of the second leg on March 16.

The Champions League is one trophy which has eluded Guardiola since he left Barcelona for Bayern Munich and then Man City.

But with 19 wins in a row across all competitions, Man City look tough to stop as they continue to chase a historic quadruple.

Gladbach 0-2 Man City: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats

We have taken a look at who the best and worst performers were on the night.

✔️ Bernardo Silva: 8.2

Playing behind Jesus in the number 10 role, Bernardo Silva impressed, ending the night with a goal and an assist.

The Portugal international had gone 13 Champions League games without a goal - last netting in the competition almost two years ago against Tottenham - before beating Yann Sommer with a bouncing header after 29 minutes.

That was only his third Man City header in 35 goals for the club, but he made an aerial impact again after 65 minutes, cushioning a João Cancelo cross into the path of Jesus for the pivotal second goal.

It was a good night for Bernardo, who was an active attacking threat with eight touches in the opposition box, second only to Raheem Sterling (10) in that category.

Alassane Pléa: 5.5

It is harsh to single out a single Gladbach player for criticism when the whole team struggled to make any kind of impact going forward.

It took until the 63rd minute for the Bundesliga side to register their first shot, when Alassane Pléa missed the target with a clever flicked attempt from a Denis Zakaria cross.

That was the only touch in the box Pléa had and he was promptly substituted having barely been involved in the game.

The forward had just 17 touches and attempted only 10 passes - both the lowest of any starter for either side - while he lost possession on seven occasions.

João Cancelo: 8.7

Cancelo has been one of the standout performers for Man City this season and it was no different in this one as he produced a man-of-the-match display.

Given license to roam forward with Gladbach barely registering an attacking threat, the former Juventus full-back took full advantage down the left.

He produced a perfect cross for the opening goal, which was headed in by Bernardo.

It was another Cancelo cross that led to the second goal too, with Bernardo ultimately teeing up Jesus.

Aside from the goals, Cancelo completed a game-high four dribbles, had three crosses (tied for the most of anyone on the pitch) and found the intended target with 93 per cent of his 92 passes.

The other members of the back four - Kyle Walker (8.2), Rúben Dias (8.1) and Aymeric Laporte (7.8) - were also superb, leaving Ederson with nothing to do in goal as Gladbach failed to register a shot on target until Hannes Wolf tested the goalkeeper in stoppage time.

Gladbach 0-2 Man City: Player Ratings, Match Stats, Player Stats

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