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Raheem Sterling's 88th-minute strike ensured Manchester City's perfect start to the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League campaign remained intact. After 4 wins from 4 games, Pep Guardiola's side are already in the round of 16, allowing him to make seven changes to the side that faced Leicester City on Saturday.
Only Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Ederson retained their place in the lineup. Sergio Aguero started up front and Mangala was given a rare start after an injury to John Stones.
Bernardo Silva and Ikay Gundogan also started for City. Already knocked out of the Champions League, Feyenoord made several changes to the lineup that faced Shakhtar on Matchday 4.
Let's take a look at the 5 major talking points from last night's game at Etihad:
#5 Absence of Stones and Fernandinho felt at Etihad
After a tough start to the life at Etihad, John Stones is finally living up to the hype that accompanied his move from Everton to Manchester City. Manchester City have let in only 7 goals in the Premier League, and have been even better in the Champions League with just 1 goal against their name.
John Stones deserves credit for a much-improved defensive display by City.this season. However, his absence was rather palpable in last night's performance.
Meanwhile, Otamendi had an excellent game, but Mangala struggled occasionally, allowing Feyenoord to threaten on a couple of occasions. Manchester City will have to play 12 games in the next 6 weeks and Stones' absence could hurt City.
In midfield, neither Toure, nor Gundogan was able to provide the spark that Fernandinho usually provides for Pep Guardiola. With a pass success rate of 91%, and 2.6 tackles per game, Fernandinho provides a lot of dynamism to Pep's side in both attack and defence.
Notably, Manchester City, today, missed his work rate as much as they missed Stones' defensive prowess.
#4 Big day for Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz
This was never on the cards when Pep Guardiola spent more than €250 million in the summer transfer window. Manchester City have backups for every place in their star-studded lineup.
Pep is always aware of the potential of these two youngsters and gave them a lot of game time during the summer tour of United States. Phil Foden impressed against Manchester United, while Brahim Diaz scored against Real Madrid during the summer tour. Foden was also the star behind England's U-17 World Cup success in India.
With a lot of clubs showing interest, Pep is always aware of the need to show he trusts them. Already in the round of 16, this was the perfect chance for Pep to give his youngsters a chance and he obliged.
He gave all-important Manchester City debuts to Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz. Though they were cameo appearances, expect them to get some more game time during the busy winter fixtures.
#3 Feyenoord were better defensively and created chances of their own
It was a better defensive display by Feyenoord at the Etihad stadium. The defensive pairing of van Beek and Tapia had a relatively easy first half but were made to work in the second half. They had an impressive game with a total of 11 clearances and 3 tackles between them.
Feyenoord had men behind the ball all the time and Manchester City struggled to create any kind of opportunity in the first 30 minutes. They were better organized and reduced Manchester City to only half-chances in the first 45 minutes.
Offensively, Feyenoord had a couple of good chances in the game to open their account. Larsson struck wide of the far post in the 36th minute and they almost took the lead when Berghuis' shot was parried over the upright by Ederson.
#2 Nicolas Otamendi produced a man of the match display and Sterling was equally impressive
In the absence of John Stones and Vincent Kompany, Otamendi was the defensive leader for Manchester City against Feyenoord. In spite of the added responsibility, Otamendi produced a dazzling display at the back.
Otamendi was a commanding presence at the back and assured in touch and passing. He stifled most of Feyenoord's attacking play and provided the solidity at the back.
Otamendi's game stats:
Clearances: 10
Total Passes: 82
Pass Accuracy: 90.2%
Another impressive player on the pitch was Raheem Sterling. In the absence of David Silva, Sterling provided the creative spark and was City's best attacking option. Most of City's attacking play came on the left flank with Sterling causing lot of problems for Feyenoord defenders with his pace and trickery.
He created opportunities for Silva and Aguero but they failed to capitalize on it. He finally put the game to bed in the 88th minute with a well-taken chip over Brad Jones.
Sterling's game stats:
Key Passes: 3
Dribbles: 4
Total Shots: 2
Goal: 1
#1 Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero failed to impress
While Raheem Sterling was superb on the left, Bernardo Silva was not so effective on the right. He neither created anything productive, nor provided any width to the Manchester City attack. He fluffed an excellent chance to score in the first half when Sterling gifted him a clear-cut opportunity.
Though he had a better second half, he did not make full use of the opportunity and produced a mediocre display in front of his home fans. Leroy Sane will waltz into the lineup with this kind of performance from Bernardo Silva and he needs to do a lot better to convince Pep Guardiola into playing him regularly.
Another man who disappointed on the night was Sergio Aguero. He was below par in the first half and did not have any shots on target, but influenced the game more in the second half.
However, he was wasteful in front of goal. He hit a shot straight at Brad Jones in the 21st minute, headed the ball over the bar in the 32nd-minute from close range, and hit a shot wide in the 75th minute. His link-up play was promising, but the Argentine failed to find the back of the net.
