UEFA Champions League

Half-time: Shakhtar 0-2 Man City

Half-time: Shakhtar 0-2 Man City Peep! Get the kettle on! After dominating throughout, Manchester City leads courtesy of goals from David Silva and Aymeric Laporte. Missing their two best players, Shakhtar held out for half an hour until City managed to break through the portcullis. The hosts have, however, looked dangerous on the break and from set pieces. I can’t see them rescuing anything from this game, but City can’t afford any kind of complacency.

Shakhtar appeal for a penalty after Viktor Kovalenko goes down in the City box, but are forced to settle for a corner. Rakitskiy swings the ball in from the right and Shakhtar right-back Mykola Matviyeko flashes a header wide of the far post. I thought that was in, but he put it the wrong side of the upright. He should have scored.

David Silva

With two defenders in front of him, Gabriel Jesus curls the ball over the bar from just outside the Shakhtar penalty area when he had better options to his left and right in Silva and Mahrez.

I did say it was coming: Indecision in the Shakhtar defence. The ball rolls towards Sterling on the left and he plays it back across the edge of the area. Jesus shoots and his effort loops up in the air. With his eyes glued to it, Silva lashes the dropping ball past Pyatov and into the bottom corner.

City doubles their lead. Unmarked at a corner, Laporte does the honours with a header from about 10 yards out.

 Shakhtar enjoyed a rare spell of uninterrupted possession, alleviating the pressure somewhat. Fernandinho puts a stop to that with an interception and plays the ball to David Silva, who picks out Gabriel Jesus with a sublime reverse pass between defenders. He dilly-dallies over his shot, eventually making life easy for Shakhtar goalkeeper Pyatov, who is quickly out to block.

So as it stands the English Champions are enjoying themselves. Now we wait for the second half.

Source: The Guardian