De Bruyne magic sets up City for victory
Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph hailed Kevin De Bruyne’s “moment of magic” after the 2-0 Champions League win against Shakhtar Donetsk.
De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling struck as City moved clear in Group F with a nervy victory.
De Bruyne broke the deadlock on what proved a testing night against the Ukrainian champions with a fine shot early in the second half, before substitute Sterling wrapped up victory late on.
Sergio Aguero, one short of equalling the club’s longstanding goalscoring record, endured a frustrating evening and had a secondhalf penalty saved by Andriy Pyatov.
“It was very difficult. We’re not used to teams who come and keep the ball as well as they do,” Delph said.
“We had to be organised and patient but in the end we knew we’d get the chances.
“We probably could have stuck a few more away, but when you’ve got guys like this guy (De Bruyne) who can have that moment of magic you’re always confident going into games.”
City boss Guardiola picked out Delph for praise and was pleased that even though his side wasted several chances, they never really came under threat.
“The first half we had a few problems as we didn’t make enough passes in a row,” the Spaniard said.
“The second half was much, much better. A lot of credit to my players for today.
“Even in that situation, at 1-0, we were stable. When we missed the penalty and a lot of chances and we didn’t score goals, we were still stable.
“Fabian Delph was man of the match. (The) guy is so kind and always tries to help. When he plays in the side we have more tempo and time and he did it really well.”
Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool need to be more clinical after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Spartak Moscow in Champions League Group E.
The visitors missed a whole host of opportunities to score a winner after Philippe Coutinho cancelled out Fernando’s opener in the 31st minute.
“Obviously we didn’t score,” Klopp said.
“We created, created, created - and could have created more - but the chances we had were big enough to score two, three or four times.
“We tried with all we had. We have to carry on.
“The effort was great. It was a very intense game for our side.
“We created the chances but we have to be more clinical, that is 100 per cent sure. The only way to change it is to do it again, do it again and do it again. We got in the right positions.”
Klopp was also disappointed with the referee’s decision to award the free-kick from which Fernando scored in the 23rd minute.
“The situation around the free-kick is not a foul,” Klopp added.