MX23RW : Tuesday, November 5 03:00:46| >> :120:6695:6695:
[monks data]
Attendance: 49,308
Manchester City logo
Champions League | Group Stage
Oct 22, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
Atalanta logo

5-1

Aguero (34', 38' pen.), Sterling (58', 64', 69')
FT(HT: 2-1)
Malinovskiy (28' pen.)

Raheem Sterling hat-trick helps five-star Man City thrash Atalanta

Sergio Aguero netted twice and Phil Foden was sent off late on as Pep Guardiola's side took control of Group C.

Raheem Sterling grabbed a quickfire second-half hat-trick as 10-man Manchester City thrashed Atalanta 5-1 to put one foot in the Champions League knockout stages.

The England forward struck three times in the space of 11 minutes after Sergio Aguero had netted twice to cancel out Ruslan Malinovsky's penalty opener for the visitors at the Etihad Stadium.

City's victory lifted them five points clear at the top of Group C with three games still to play but there were downsides.

Phil Foden, who otherwise had a fine game, was sent off for two bookable offences and Rodri hobbled off injured.

Manager Pep Guardiola may be also concerned about a sluggish start which allowed Atalanta to make a lot of the early running.

Despite their poor record in the competition, the visitors showed the attacking intent that has again lifted them to third in Serie A after finishing in that position last season.

They troubled City in the early stages and could have gone ahead when Robin Gosens chipped a clever cross across goal but Timothy Castagne headed over.

City roused themselves and created a series of good chances. Sterling chipped narrowly wide before failing to find Aguero when well placed.

Sergio Aguero was on the spot for Manchester City
Sergio Aguero was on the spot for Manchester City (Martin Rickett/PA)

Aguero forced a good save from Pierluigi Gollini and then shot over after brilliant work by Foden to keep the ball in play on the byline.

City were stung after 28 minutes as Fernandinho, again playing in a makeshift central defensive partnership with Rodri, brought Josip Ilicic down just inside the area. Malinovskyi sent Ederson the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick.

City responded well and were back level within six minutes as Sterling ran across the edge of the box and clipped in a cross for Aguero to calmly tap past Gollini.

The hosts then stepped up a gear and soon claimed the lead with a penalty of their own after Sterling was brought down by Andrea Masiello following another weaving run.

Aguero stroked home the spot-kick and City threatened again as Kyle Walker's deflected shot was turned away by Gollini.

City lost Rodri just before the break with what looked like a hamstring injury but they at least had a specialist defensive replacement in John Stones.

Atalanta offered little after the break and City took a firm grip on the game with a fine team goal just before the hour.

Riyad Mahrez released Kevin De Bruyne down the right and he burst into the area to feed Foden, who in turn teed up Sterling for an emphatic finish from six yards.

Phil Foden was sent off late on
Phil Foden was sent off late on (Martin Rickett/PA)

Sterling struck again soon after as he raced onto a defence-splitting Ilkay Gundogan pass and wrong-footed a defender to fire home.

Remo Freuler put the ball in the net for Atalanta but was ruled offside before Sterling completed his treble by turning home an inviting Mahrez cross.

Sterling should have had a fourth after racing through one-on-one but rolled his shot wide of the post.

City's night ended on a bad note as Foden, booked harshly moments earlier for a foul, was shown a second yellow card and then a red for pulling back former Middlesbrough midfielder Marten De Roon.

ID:375874: cacheID:375874:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9431:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Joao Cancelo pictured in Manchester City gear on August 10, 2019
Read Next:
Joao Cancelo wary of Atalanta threat in Champions League
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
1.15am
Buccaneers
@
Chiefs
Tables header RHS

League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
1Aston Villa33009
2Liverpool33009
3Man City32107
4B. Leverkusen32107
5Brest32107
6Inter Milan32107
7Monaco32107
8Sporting Lisbon32107
9Arsenal32107
10Real Madrid32016
11Lille32016
12Feyenoord32016
13Barcelona32016
14Dortmund32016
15Benfica32016
16Juventus32016
17Atalanta31205
18Stuttgart31114
19Sparta Prague31114
20PSG31114
21Celtic31114
22Dinamo Zagreb31114
23AC Milan31023
24Bayern31023
25Girona31023
26Brugge31023
27Atletico31023
28PSV30212
29Bologna30121
30Shakhtar30121
31RB Leipzig30030
32Sturm Graz30030
33Salzburg30030
34Red Star30030
35Young Boys30030
36Slovan Bratislava30030


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!