{"id":19945,"date":"2024-02-13T19:39:21","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T00:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/sport\/copenhagen-1-3-man-city-pep-guardiola-proud-of-perfect-win-but-jack-grealish-and-bernardo-silva-suffer-injuries-football-news\/13\/02\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-02-13T19:39:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T00:39:21","slug":"copenhagen-1-3-man-city-pep-guardiola-proud-of-perfect-win-but-jack-grealish-and-bernardo-silva-suffer-injuries-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/sport\/copenhagen-1-3-man-city-pep-guardiola-proud-of-perfect-win-but-jack-grealish-and-bernardo-silva-suffer-injuries-football-news\/13\/02\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Copenhagen 1-3 Man City: Pep Guardiola proud of ‘perfect’ win but Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva suffer injuries | Football News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pep Guardiola described Manchester City’s 3-1 victory over Copenhagen in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie as “perfect” but the result came at a cost with injuries to Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva.<\/p>\n
City extended their unbeaten run in Europe to 21 matches and made it 11 consecutive wins in all competitions by overcoming the Danish champions thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Silva and Phil Foden.<\/p>\n
De Bruyne struck the opener at Parken Stadium after just 10 minutes amid a dominant start which should have seen City further ahead before Grealish went off injured in the first half and an Ederson mistake allowed Copenhagen’s Magnus Mattsson to equalise.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n Image:<\/span> \n Man City made it 11 consecutive wins in all competitions by beating Copenhagen \n <\/span> \n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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England in line for fifth CL spot<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
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Man City\u2019s victory moved England into second, behind Italy, in the UEFA coefficient rankings, for the extra Champions League place next season. <\/li>\n
RB Leipzig\u2019s defeat to Real Madrid contributed to Germany dropping to third with Spain in fourth. <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Silva struck on the stroke of half-time to restore City’s lead and after Erling Haaland had hit the crossbar, Foden netted in the 92nd minute to move Guardiola’s side closer to the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
Speaking to TNT Sports<\/em>, the City boss said: “It was really, really good. Today was perfect. They were patient in the right moments and I’m really proud of the team.<\/p>\n
“The third goal helped us a lot. Hopefully, we can finish it off at home and go to the next game.<\/p>\n
“It was important to not lose the tie here. The game was really well played from the first minute. We conceded a goal but sometimes that happens.<\/p>\n
“In the second half, they played with five in the back but in general we did well. We didn’t concede transitions or make the crowd support the team. We had the perfect tempo so I’m really pleased.”<\/p>\n
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\n \n <\/div>\n Image:<\/span> \n Jack Grealish’s return to the Man City starting XI was curtailed by injury in the first half \n <\/span> \n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
The only blots on an otherwise positive evening for City were injuries to Grealish and Silva. Grealish, handed his first start in six matches, lasted just 21 minutes while Silva took a knock to the ankle late in the game.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the two players post-match, Guardiola said: “Bernardo has a big knock on his ankle. I didn’t speak with the doctor but it looks muscular for Jack, his groin.<\/p>\n
“It’s a pity because, in the last few days, his mood in training was much better, he was playing really good, really good. He helped us to play at the right tempo.<\/p>\n
“You cannot play so slow but you cannot play so fast against teams this organised, you have to find the right tempo and he helped us a lot.”<\/p>\n
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