Man city juggernaut thunders on as pivotal month looms for treble chasers

The great Manchester City express thunders onwards across Europe, the champions of it all with an unbeaten run that streams behind them into the year past - back to a brief moment of

uncertainty that seems ever more distant. The Champions League holders have a habit of playing when on the road as if it is they who are at home and for the most part on this night they

might as well have been. With possession at 75 per cent and more than four times as many passes than the opposition – the single glimpse they gave Copenhagen of their own goal was afforded

to the home team by Ederson’s mistake. There were goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, although Copenhagen will feel they got away with one. They go to Manchester in

three weeks’ time with the very slimmest of chances in the second leg and it would be one of the great upsets of this modern era of the European Cup were they to pull it off. The chances are

vanishingly small. City have not lost in 14 games and the winning run now stands at 11 with the only question who might stop them. Copenhagen had previously not been beaten since Dec 6, the

same day as City last lost a game – although unfortunately for the Danes, they had only played twice after that Cup defeat to Silkeborg. This night was their first game back for two months

following the Danish winter break and in the interim City have played 12 games without defeat and ascended to champions of the world. At times in the first half it hardly seemed fair on the

Danish club who were backed by a great crowd at the Parken but could barely put a boot on the ball. The injury to Jack Grealish was the only shadow cast over the night for City. A muscular

problem, said Pep Guardiola later, which meant the Englishman came off in the first half, having twice been kicked with those trademark runs that invite the foul from slower reacting

opponents. He certainly seemed to feel the impact on both occasions, although the problem developed later than that. The Danish champions come to the Etihad for the return leg in three

weeks’ time to try their best in the midst of what is shaping up to be a monumental month for City. In March, they are at home to Manchester United three days before that Copenhagen second

leg and off to Anfield four days later – with Arsenal at the end of the month and Brighton in there as well. It is their big month as they look to defend their Treble. The rhythm of this

City team is irresistible and although Guardiola likes to dwell on the challenges each individual opponent presents they can be hard to identify when City’s dominance of a game is so total.

He had said that Copenhagen would be physical - and they were – and also that the enthusiasm of the crowd needed to be brought down by “one thousand passes” if necessary. In the end City

completed only 786 of the 835 they attempted but the effect was just the same. There was no goal for Erling Haaland. Mr Champions League back in the competition that made his name and

presumably watching his body language after Guardiola’s warning before the game. He had some spectacular attempts, including a flying volley in the first half, airborne as if he had been

fired at Copenhagen. Haaland went through in injury time at the end and had a header saved in quick succession and just when Copenhagen thought they might have got away with 2-1, Foden added

the third. > A magical Man City team goal is finished by Phil Foden ✨#UCL > pic.twitter.com/OmD7GYtfrk > — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 13, 2024 With De Bruyne

in the side, City looked more like a 4-1-4-1 in their basic shape with John Stones augmenting midfield in possession – which was virtually all the time. For Foden, the return of De Bruyne

seems to mean he will be pushed out wide again. In De Bruyne’s five-month injury absence, Foden was more often a centrally placed attacker. De Bruyne was at the heart of it all. In the 11th

minute, Foden slipped a ball into De Bruyne in the right channel and it was dispatched with some certainty past Kamil Grabara. For the second goal De Bruyne turned something approaching a

tackle into a perfectly crafted pass for Bernardo who, in turn, took his shot a beat early with a poke past the Copenhagen goalkeeper Grabara. It was all over so swiftly that there was

barely a moment for the home team to think of an intervention. The just-in-time delivery was simply too sharp. > Kevin De Bruyne fires Man City ahead in Copenhagen 🎯 >  > How about 

that switch from Rúben Dias? 😮‍💨#UCL > pic.twitter.com/ki38PNISVz > — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 13, 2024 In the mounting pass-storm that Guardiola’s team

generated in the first half the Danish side may have felt like they were emerging too abruptly from winter hibernation. Painful at times for this promising team who overcame Manchester

United in the group stages, although they had their moment. Copenhagen’s equaliser was beautifully taken by new signing Magnus Mattsson. Ederson’s dreadful pass straight to Mohamed

Elyounoussi, formerly of Southampton, prompted a shot from the latter, blocked by Ruben Dias. When it came loose it dropped to Mattsson who dispatched it with his right foot. A blow for City

but largely self-inflicted. Silva’s goal before half-time seemed to break Copenhagen anew and they offered very little in the second half. There was a good substitute cameo from Rasmus

Hojlund’s younger brother Oscar, who was unlucky to be penalised for a challenge on Haaland. The team’s top goalscorer this season, 18-year-old Roony Bardghji, did not come off the bench.

After Haaland went close in a late period of pressure, Foden scored the third from De Bruyne’s pass. ------------------------- MANCHESTER CITY CRUISE TO TWO-GOAL LEAD OVER COPENHAGEN: AS IT

HAPPENED