Man City record Champions League first in testing Shakhtar surrounds

Manchester City have made more history by becoming the first English side to win away at Shakhtar Donetsk in European competition.

Pep Guardiola’s side have grown accustomed to rewriting the record books over the course of the last 18 months.

After seeing their first season under a Catalan coach end with no major silverware, the Blues have swept aside all before them.

A Premier League title was secured in 2017-18 with a century of points and over 100 goals, with Carabao Cup success completing a domestic double.

An unbeaten start to the current campaign, on the back of a Community Shield triumph, has them well placed to defend their English top-flight crown.

There are more League Cup and FA Cup outings to come, while European success is being chased down as City seek to conquer the Champions League for the first time.

A positive start has been made to that quest, with six points from three games enough to have them sat at the top of Group F.

Their most recent success carried them to the summit of their section but proved to be more notable for the fact that they were able to achieve something no English rival had done in seven previous trips to Shakhtar.

City prevailed in Donetsk courtesy of two first-half goals in the space of five minutes from David Silva and Aymeric Laporte and a slick third from Bernardo Silva 20 minutes from time.

Their next continental outing will see them face Shakhtar again, but this time at the Etihad Stadium.

That game is set to form part of a testing run of matches across multiple competitions.

Guardiola’s side are set to visit Tottenham in the Premier League next Monday and have further league outings to come against Southampton, West Ham and derby rivals Manchester United before the end of November.

They also have a Carabao Cup fourth round clash with Fulham to take in and a European trip to Lyon.

Maintaining momentum from this point will be key to successfully negotiating a tricky sequence of fixtures, and City are showing signs of moving through the gears as key men such as Kevin De Bruyne are welcomed back into the fold and squad rotation helps to fend off the threat of burnout.