Aguero and Negredo combo helps Man City win crucial points in Moscow

CSKA Moscow 1-2 Manchester City

On an evening when, yet again, racism among fans was the main talking point, Sergio Aguero did his talking on the pitch with two well-taken goals that led City in taking all three points in a crucial Champions League encounter.

Key Stats:

The main talking point is how Manchester City only scored two goals, they had 20 shots overall and should have won by a considerably bigger margin against a very lacklustre CSKA side. The Sky Blues were very unlucky to go a goal down inside a first-half they dominated overwhelmingly.

However, once Sergio Aguero grabbed City’s equaliser, the Russian side looked shell-shocked and never really recovered until late on in the game when they squandered their biggest chance to draw level through a Keisuke Honda effort that was well-saved by Joe Hart in the City goal.

One other talking point is how Man City dominated possession. The English side had 55% of the ball and completed 469 passes. CSKA’s main chances came through set-pieces or long-balls that City didn’t deal with, whereas The Citizens chances came through minutes of passing before they found an opening – a tactic for which they’re becoming renowned for. However, the amount of possession City had adds to the question of why didn’t they score more than two and put the game to bed?

Man of the Match:

Sergio Aguero was given our Man of the Match, he scored two vital goals that won the game for City. The Argentine completed three of his four take-ons, this was key as it allowed him to glide past the opponent and commit defenders. Furthermore, looking at Aguero’s Heat Map, it’s clear he dropped deep to receive the ball, in order to dictate the ball and cause the CSKA players confusion as to who was picking him up. Furthermore, Aguero’s link-up play with Alavro Negredo was delightful, as the two combined for Man City’s second goal.

Sergio Aguero Heat Map v CSKA

Performance Score:

As the Performance Scores of both teams shows, City dominated and were on top throughout. The key part of the game is the 65th to the 80th minute were the performance score widens in Manchester City’s favour. This is where they created chance after chance but didn’t capitalise on it.

Key Observation:

A positive for Man City was their strength off the ball, the Citizens made 15 interceptions as they broke up multiple CSKA attacks. If you take a look at the amount of interceptions City made, you’ll see that they are in vital areas of the pitch, the majority being in the final third. It will also be reassuring for Manuel Pellegrini that not a single player made more than three interceptions, this shows that although hampered by the absence of their captain, Vincent Kompany, the whole team covered for the Belgian’s defensive duties well and all shared responsibility in attempting to replace Kompany at the heart of the City defence, including, most impressively, David Silva, who made two interceptions.

Man City Interceptions v CSKA