Match ends, Olympiakos 0, Manchester City 1.
OlympiakosOlympiakos0Man CityManchester City1
Manager Pep Guardiola insisted the goals will come after Manchester City dominated Olympiakos to secure progress to the Champions League knockout stages with two games to spare.
Guardiola's side required one point from their match in Piraeus to reach the last-16 and victory on Wednesday ensures they remain firm favourites to finish top of Group C.
City were comfortable throughout against the Greek champions but 20-year-old England international Phil Foden scored the only goal after 36 minutes when he slotted in from Raheem Sterling's delightful back-pass.
Olympiakos failed to register a shot, or indeed even a touch in City's box, until the 88th-minute, but Ilkay Gundogan blazed wide and Bernardo Silva was denied at close range as City failed to add to their tally, despite 22 attempts at goal.
"It will come. We would love to do more, but one day it will come and we will break everything," Guardiola said.
"We played really well in all departments. We are already in the next round, now we can focus on the Premier League and the other competitions."
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Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne was left out of the squad but City welcomed back club record goalscorer Sergio Aguero from injury for the final 13 minutes as they began a spell of 11 games before the end of 2020.
There was a moment of silence prior to kick-off, following news of the death of football legend Diego Maradona at the age of 60.
Foden the difference in one-sided game
City could not have wished for an easier start to their busy end-of-year schedule, but Sterling's assist for Foden was a rare moment of quality when it mattered in attack.
Foden's subsequent well-taken finish was his seventh goal involvement in his past 10 appearances in Europe's elite competition - and he has now been involved in 25 goals in 40 starts for City in all competitions.
Indeed, his 10 goals in all competitions for City in 2020 is - excluding penalties - the most by any Premier League midfielder this calendar year.
Olympiakos offered almost nothing in attack themselves with their two shots arriving in the closing minutes as City's profligacy offered their opponents hope of an unlikely point.
Four wins from as many group matches, and their 10 goals - as many as they have managed in eight Premier League games - undoubtedly represents a satisfying European campaign to date - one which manager Guardiola said he is "fully optimistic" about.
But, three months on from their painful shock defeat by Lyon at last season's quarter-final stage, Guardiola can only expect similar wastefulness to be punished deeper into the competition.
City desperate for Aguero return
After slumping to a 2-0 defeat against Tottenham on Saturday, Guardiola said City could not expect Argentine striker Aguero to solve all the problems his side face.
City, 13th in the Premier League and eight points behind leaders Spurs, albeit with a game in hand, have made their worst start since 2008. Typically ruthless under Guardiola, they have not scored more than once in a Premier League game since a 5-2 defeat by Leicester in September.
Despite victory over Olympiakos, this was the latest reminder of how crucial Aguero is to his side.
The 32-year-old returned to the bench at the weekend after a four-game absence, having suffered a hamstring strain against West Ham on 24 October in only his third game since a four-month lay-off due to a knee problem.
Though it has been a different story for City in Europe so far, Aguero's ability to remain injury-free will be crucial for the battles ahead - beginning with Burnley on Saturday as they look to make up ground in the Premier League.
Guardiola's perfect group stage record - the stats
- Manchester City have won their opening four games in a Champions League campaign for the second time, also doing so in 2017-18 when they won their first five.
- City manager Pep Guardiola has progressed from the Champions League group stages in all 12 attempts as a coach - the best 100% record of any manager.
- Excluding qualifiers, City have kept three consecutive clean sheets in major European competition for the first time since 1969-70.
- Phil Foden has scored five goals and made two assists in his 10 starts for club and country this season.
- Olympiakos have lost 14 of their last 18 Champions League games and have lost each of their last three without scoring.
What's next?
Manchester City host Burnley on at 15:00 GMT on Saturday, before travelling to Porto in their penultimate Champions League group game next Tuesday (20:00).
Player of the match
SterlingRaheem Sterling
with an average of 7.39
Olympiakos
Avg
- Squad number3Player nameRúben SemedoAverage rating
6.71
- Squad number10Player namePepeAverage rating
6.63
- Squad number1Player nameJosé SáAverage rating
6.61
- Squad number24Player nameBaAverage rating
6.27
- Squad number17Player nameVrousaiAverage rating
6.24
- Squad number5Player nameBouchalakisAverage rating
6.14
- Squad number21Player nameDrägerAverage rating
6.11
- Squad number6Player nameM'VilaAverage rating
6.06
- Squad number4Player nameMady CamaraAverage rating
5.94
- Squad number2Player nameSoudaniAverage rating
5.94
- Squad number7Player nameFortounisAverage rating
5.85
- Squad number19Player nameMasourasAverage rating
5.85
- Squad number13Player nameRafinhaAverage rating
5.81
- Squad number66Player nameCisséAverage rating
5.52
Manchester City
Avg
- Squad number7Player nameSterlingAverage rating
7.39
Squad number20Player nameBernardo SilvaAverage rating7.16
Squad number9Player nameGabriel JesusAverage rating7.02
Squad number10Player nameAgüeroAverage rating6.67
Squad number27Player nameJoão CanceloAverage rating6.58
- Squad number69Player nameDoyleAverage rating
6.58
Squad number31Player nameEdersonAverage rating6.51
Squad number5Player nameStonesAverage rating6.45
- Squad number3Player nameRúben DiasAverage rating
6.44
Squad number25Player nameFernandinhoAverage rating6.43
Squad number8Player nameGündoganAverage rating6.20
Squad number26Player nameMahrezAverage rating6.09
- Squad number16Player nameRodriAverage rating
6.01
Squad number22Player nameMendyAverage rating5.75
Squad number11Player nameZinchenkoAverage rating5.63
Squad number47Player nameFodenAverage rating4.86
Line-ups
Olympiakos
Formation 5-4-1
- 1Sá
- 21DrägerSubstituted forVrousaiat 66'minutes
- 24Ba
- 3Borges Semedo
- 66Cissé
- 13Ferreira de SouzaBooked at 39mins
- 19MasourasSubstituted forSoudaniat 78'minutes
- 6M'Vila
- 10Figueiredo RodriguesSubstituted forBouchalakisat 71'minutes
- 4Camara
- 7Fortounis
Substitutes
- 2Soudani
- 5Bouchalakis
- 12Vinagre
- 14Androutsos
- 17Vrousai
- 34Papadopoulos
- 44Karargyris
- 53Nikolis
- 54Kitsos
- 56Tsavos
- 88Tzolakis
- 90Sourlis
Man City
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 31Ederson
- 27Cancelo
- 5Stones
- 3Rúben DiasBooked at 54mins
- 22MendySubstituted forZinchenkoat 78'minutes
- 16RodriSubstituted forFernandinhoat 76'minutes
- 8GündoganBooked at 86minsSubstituted forDoyleat 86'minutes
- 7SterlingBooked at 39minsSubstituted forMahrezat 76'minutes
- 20Bernardo Silva
- 47Foden
- 9Gabriel JesusSubstituted forAgüeroat 78'minutes
Substitutes
- 10Agüero
- 11Zinchenko
- 13Steffen
- 14Laporte
- 21F Torres
- 25Fernandinho
- 26Mahrez
- 33Carson
- 50García
- 61Nmecha
- 69Doyle
- 80Palmer
- Referee:
- Davide Massa
Match Stats
Home TeamOlympiakosAway TeamMan City
- Possession
- Home41%
- Away59%
- Shots
- Home2
- Away22
- Shots on Target
- Home0
- Away11
- Corners
- Home0
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away8
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Olympiakos 0, Manchester City 1.
Post update
Rúben Dias (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Pape Abou Cissé (Olympiakos).
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Foul by Sergio Agüero (Manchester City).
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Ousseynou Ba (Olympiakos) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt missed. Pape Abou Cissé (Olympiakos) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Mady Camara with a cross.
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Hand ball by Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City).
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Attempt missed. Konstantinos Fortounis (Olympiakos) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right.
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Fernandinho (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Rúben Semedo (Olympiakos).
Substitution
Substitution, Manchester City. Tommy Doyle replaces Ilkay Gündogan.
Booking
Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City).
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Konstantinos Fortounis (Olympiakos) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Fernandinho (Manchester City).
Post update
Hillal Soudani (Olympiakos) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Offside, Olympiakos. Pape Abou Cissé tries a through ball, but Hillal Soudani is caught offside.
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Offside, Olympiakos. Pape Abou Cissé tries a through ball, but Hillal Soudani is caught offside.
Post update
Foul by João Cancelo (Manchester City).
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Comments
Join the conversation
Unfortunately we are in the minority, with most LFC “fans” giving us genuine fans a bad name. I honestly don’t think you get this as much with other clubs fans. Very sad.
Like for yes, dislike for no
LFC lost in Anfield again, 0-2 to Atlanta !
Hope this help you be quiet at least for a while , quietness is good for health !
It’s because Liverpool fans are glued to their team currently losing 2-0.
They want to wait for that match to finish so they can either gloat on here - or go to bed with their tail between their legs.
😂😂😂
City did what they had to do.
Nothing more, nothing less.
But they definitely need to sign a striker in January - Jesus doesn’t cut it, and unfortunately Aguero is injury prone at the moment.
And Mahrez has lost that edge - Foden should be starting ahead of him in my opinion.
I thought Olympiakos are like Burnley but now i am extremely apologitic for being hugely disrespectful to the clarets.
Anyways City did what was needed and the rest was just like training ground.
Just move on - as far as I’m concerned Bayern Munich are clear favourites.
Man City will do well, but they don’t have the factor that Bayern have.
Meanwhile liverpool had zero shots on target and more worryingly no penalties awarded to them.
Be v.surprised if City don't Win Group.
Tonight's game, whilst a stroll we could and Should've Scored 3 or 4 in most comfortable 1-0 Win / 3 Points you'll probably ever see, yet again emphasises the importance of putting away far more chances than City are currently (not) converting - against much better sides we will pay for it.
Good subs : Aguero & Doyle.
Its hard to believe this is the same Olympiakos side that earlier this year knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League after beating them 2-1 at The Emirates.