Borussia M'gladbach v Manchester City Live Commentary & Result, 24/02/2021, UEFA Champions League

That's all from us today folks, we hope you enjoyed the game!

City are in a great position to progress to the quarter-finals, with a 2-0 away goals advantage ahead of the second leg in March. Both teams will return to domestic action this weekend, with City facing West Ham United in the Premier League and Gladbach travelling to RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.

City secure a comfortable 2-0 first leg victory over Gladbach, thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva and Jesus. They dominated from start to finish, making it look very comfortable and they could have gone on and scored a few more, with Foden and Jesus having opportunities. Gladbach didn’t offer much at the other end, but Plea and Wolf did go close, however, Ederson made sure City kept a clean sheet.

90' + 5' FULL-TIME: GLADBACH 0-2 MAN CITY

90' + 4' SAVE! Wolf manages to break through the City defence late on and he only has Ederson to beat, but the keeper gets down quickly and makes a superb save to deny him and make sure they keep a clean sheet.

90' + 2' Ginter is down after blocking a powerful effort from Torres and he looks like a painful one, but he should be fine to continue, with not long left to play.

90' There will be a minimum of three minutes added time played at the end of the second half.

89' Since the start of 2017-18, no player has more Champions League goals for City than Jesus (16, level with Sterling). He has also scored in all five of his Champions League appearances in the last 16.

H. Wolf

J. Hofmann

87' Hofmann is coming off the pitch with an injury and he has been replaced by Wolf.

85' PENALTY SHOUT! Hofmann takes on Cancelo, flicks the ball past him and then barges into the City defender and goes down appealing for a penalty. Nothing is given by the referee and VAR agree. It would have been very soft.

83' SAVE! Mahrez is released down the right wing and he gets into a shooting position but should cross to a teammate in a better position. However, he opts to shoot and Sommer makes the save at his near post.

82' We're into the final 10 minutes of the game now, can Gladbach pull one back late on? Or, will City go on and extend their lead further?

Ferran Torres

P. Foden

80' The other change sees Foden come off and he has been replaced by Torres.

S. Agüero

Gabriel Jesus

80' Double substitution for City now and it shows that they are going for a third goal, with Aguero the man coming on and he has replaced Jesus.

78' CLOSE! Cancelo with a lovely chip into the box, which Gundogan cushions down to Foden and he then takes the shot on the volley, but he gets slightly too much on it and it flies just over the crossbar.

76' The Gladbach changes haven’t had the desired effect, as the hosts are still have to sit deep and soak up the City pressure, which continues to come. Can they make it 3-0?

B. Embolo

L. Stindl

74' Another Gladbach substitution now, with Stindl the man coming off and he has been replaced by Embolo.

73' Despite their dominance and two-goal lead, they haven’t really tested Sommer too much, he has only had a couple of comfortable saves to make, with City not carving open loads of goalscoring chances.

71' City will be very happy with this result if it remains the same, two goals away from home gives them a massive advantage heading into the second leg in a few weeks time.

R. Mahrez

R. Sterling

69' City have made their first change now, with Sterling the man coming off and he has been replaced by Mahrez. Gundogan has been passed the captains armband.

67' Manchester City have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for the eighth consecutive season, the longest current run for an English club – they will be aiming to make it to the quarter-finals for the fourth straight campaign.

Bernardo Silva

Assist

65' Lovely vision by Bernardo Silva to spot his teammate in a better position and he sets it up for Jesus, who taps it home from close range.

Gabriel Jesus

Goal

65' GOAL! Jesus doubles City’s lead and makes it 2-0! A lovely move and finish by City. It starts with Sterling, who lays it back to Cancelo, who whips a superb cross into the box for Bernardo Silva at the far post, he heads it across goal and Jesus pokes it home from just a couple of yards out.

M. Thuram

A. Plea

63' The other change by the hosts sees Plea head off the pitch and he has been replaced by Thuram.

V. Lazaro

S. Lainer

63' Double substitution now for Gladbach, the first sees Lainer come off and he has been replaced by Lazaro.

62' CLOSE! Another quick counter by Gladbach and Zakaria gets down the right wing and then whips a cross into the box for Plea, who tries an audacious flick, that almost works! The effort has Ederson scrambling across goal, but it flies narrowly wide of the left-hand post.

60' ALMOST! Zakaria uses his pace to race forward on the counter and he only has to slide the ball through to Plea in-behind the City defence and he would’ve been through on goal. However, his pass has too much pace on it and Plea can’t reach it, so Ederson gathers. That could’ve been a really good chance for the hosts.

58' Bensebaini has had to be alert on a few occasions today and he once again does well to stop a good move by Foden and Bernardo Silva down the right wing, preventing a shot at goal.

56' There is no sign of any Gladbach changes coming up soon, they need to change something and sharpish though if they are to get anything out of this game.

54' HUGE CHANCE! Jesus should double City’s lead after he races through on goal after Gladbach lose it deep inside their own half and Jesus picks it up, races towards goal and takes too many touches before trying to get a shot away. This allows Ginter time to get back and he makes a superb tackle to deny the striker.

52' Manchester City have won each of their last three away games in the Champions League round of 16 - 4-0 v Basel in February 2018, 3-2 v Schalke in February 2019 and 2-1 v Real Madrid in February 2020

50' Almost! Foden does brilliantly down the left wing, he skips past one defender and races into the box, tries to get past another, but this time isn’t as fortunate and Gladbach clear the danger.

48' The second half has started just as the first finished, with City dominating and they are pressing high up the pitch, making Gladbach sit deep and soak up the pressure once more.

46' The second half is under way!

The hosts have hardly touched the ball in the City half of the pitch and look short of ideas when they do get a few touches, with Ederson a spectator in the City goal.

City hold a deserved 1-0 lead at the break, thanks to Bernardo Silva’s header on 29 minutes, after a superb cross into the box by Cancelo and the midfielder finished it off at the back post. The visitors have been very comfortable so far, it’s been very straight forward and they could go on and score a few more, with Gladbach not offering anything at the other end.

45' + 1' HALF-TIME: GLADBACH 0-1 MAN CITY

45' There will be a minimum of one minute added time played at the end of the first half.

43' Everyone apart from Ederson is in the Gladbach half of the pitch at the moment, it is almost like attack versus defence, with City piling on the pressure at the very end of the half.

42' There’s not long left to play before the end of the first half, can City extend their lead before the half-time whistle?

40' Not too far away! Cancelo finds time and space on the edge of the box and unleashes a powerful strike towards goal, but he gets too much on it and it flies just over the crossbar.

39' City are just starting to pick up the pace again as we head into the final few minutes before the break, they want a second goal to give themselves a cushion.

37' It looks like City might have a problem here as Walker is down with an injury after he is caught slightly late by Bensebaini and the right-back requires some treatment from the medical staff. However, it looks like he should be fine to continue.

35' Bernardo Silva ends a run of 13 Champions League games without a goal, his first since April 2019 vs Tottenham.

33' We’re past the half an hour mark here and it's Man City who lead 1-0 after Bernardo Silva's 29th minute header fired them ahead.

31' It will be interesting to see how Gladbach respond to going a goal down, will they push forward in search of an equaliser before the break? City look keen to get a second before half-time.

João Cancelo

Assist

29' Cancelo is almost playing as a left winger, rather than left-back and he has been camped inside the Gladbach half of the pitch here and he showed his quality with a wonderful cross over to his teammate, who made no mistakes with the finish.

Bernardo Silva

Goal

29' GOAL! Bernardo Silva opens the scoring for City, they lead 1-0! It’s a terrific cross from the left wing by Cancelo, picking out Bernardo Silva perfectly at the far post and he heads it back across goal and into the back the net, with Sommer getting a slight touch on it, but he can’t stop it from going in.

27' PENALTY SHOUT! Sterling races past Bensebaini down the right wing and the Gladbach dives in and gets the slightest of touches on the ball, before it comes off Sterling and goes out of play for a goal-kick. The replays show the defender just got to the ball first, so no penalty is awarded.

25' Gladbach have been very cautious in the opening 25 minutes, just easing themselves into the game and keeping possession in midfield when they can. A quick break forward on the counter-attack might be their best way of creating a chance.

23' Good move! Foden finds Bernardo Silva down the left wing, he gets to the byline and drills a low cross into the penalty area, but it is cleared in the nick of time.

22' It’s been 43 years since Gladbach were in the knockout stages of the European Cup/Champions League. They lost 4-2 in the semi-finals of the 1977/78 European against Liverpool.

20' The pace of the game is quite slow at the moment, with neither team showing much urgency to get forward and score the opening goal. Gladbach might be happy to keep this game at 0-0 for as long as possible.

18' Stindl with a lovely ball in behind the City defence for Plea to run onto, however, Ederson is alert to it and comes out and clears the danger.

16' CHANCE! City should test Sommer! Rodri plays a wonderful ball through to Jesus, who can't find space to get a shot away, so it comes to Sterling, who again gets crowded out in the box and then Gundogan picks it up, but Gladbach have so many players back behind the ball, so City can't get a shot away and eventually they clear the danger.

14' Gladbach are keeping their shape nicely at the moment and it looks like they have reverted to a 4-4-2 formation, rather than the 4-3-3 it first appeared they would play in. They are making it difficult for City to find a way through into the final third.

12' Still no goalscoring chance for either side so far, but it is City who are dominating possession, with Gladbach struggling to get a couple of passes together.

10' City are unbeaten against Gladbach in the Champions League (W3 D1). However, their only previous encounter in the knockout stages of a European competition saw Gladbach beat City 4-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the 1978/79 UEFA Cup.

8' City are playing the ball around very nicely at the moment, one and two touch football to try and open up this Gladbach defence, who are currently camped inside their own half.

6' Blocked! Ginter gets across brilliantly to deny Sterling who had found space out to the right, he is pushed slightly too far out wide, but still manages to get a shot away, which is turned behind for a corner. Foden then manages to get a shot away from the corner, but Sommer makes a good save.

5' Walker does well down the right, holding off his marker and he flicks it off to Sterling on the overlap, he races into the box, but he just runs out of space and gets crowded out for a goal-kick.

3' Both teams are battling for position at the moment, but City have just managed to get forward and Cancelo has come up from left-back, he whips a ball into the box, but it is too close to Sommer, who easily gathers.

1' We're under way!

The teams are out on the pitch and kick-off is almost upon us, stay tuned for all the match action!

Meanwhile Pep Guardiola has made five changes to his team that beat Arsenal 1-0 last time out, with Stones, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Fernandinho and Mahrez all missing out and they have been replaced by Walker, Laporte, Foden, Rodri and Jesus.

Gladbach have made just change to their side that were beaten 2-1 by Mainz at the weekend, with Lazaro dropping out of the side and he has been replaced by Zakaria.

MANCHESTER CITY SUBS: Zack Steffen, Scott Carson, John Stones, Sergio Aguero, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kevin De Bruyne, Ferran Torres, Benjamin Mendy, Fernandinho, Riyad Mahrez, Eric Garcia, Tommy Doyle.

MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo; Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden; Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling.

GLADBACH SUBS: Valentino Lazaro, Breel Embolo, Marcus Thuram, Hannes Wolf, Jordan Beyer, Tobias Sippel, Oscar Wendt, Ibrahima Traore, Michael Lang, Tony Jantschke, Max Grun, Patrick Herrmann.

GLADBACH (3-5-2): Yann Sommer; Nico Elvedi, Denis Zakaria, Matthias Ginter; Stefan Lainer, Florian Neuhaus, Christoph Kramer, Jonas Hofmann, Ramy Bensebaini; Alassane Plea, Lars Stindl.

Meanwhile Manchester City have a 10 point advantage at the top of the Premier League table, having won 13 games in a row. They finished top of the Champions League group, dropping points in just one game, to comfortably see themselves through.

Gladbach finished as runners-up in Group B, just two points behind Real Madrid to secure their place in the knockout stages, their first in 43 years. The German side are aren’t in the best of form heading into this game, they sit eighth in the Bundesliga and are winless in their last four games, drawing two and losing two.

Hello and welcome to our LIVE match commentary of the Champions League Round of 16 clash between Borussia Monchenglabach and Manchester City.

Borussia M'gladbach v Manchester City Live Commentary, 24/02/2021

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