The first real test we've had this season & we held firm when under pressure & ultimately dealt with the matter.
Aguero played like the craven Aguero of old tonight, because it was obvious his mind was fixed on Eric Brook's record & therefore he should never have taken the penalty. That's 8 missed in his last 15 which should tell us it's time to move on from Sergio being our penalty taker.
It should have been 4-0 & probably more. At this level, football is decided by small margins & Sterling's miss along with Sergio's penalty miss could have cost us dear against more clinical opposition.
Defensively we were tight. Stones & Otamendi are developing a very good understanding & I noticed Otamendi pointing & directing the other players aroundhim along with Stones. Ederson is a god-send & gives us an assurance at the back we've not had in years.
Some of KDB's passing was out of this world, which was balanced against some utterly shit passing! Lol Silva seemed to struggle in parts tonight, especially in the first half when we gave Shaktar's midfield the freedom of the Etihad which must have been sending Pep crazy.
Walker had a poor match I thought, but Fernandinho was absolutely fantastic tonight. He was exactly where he needed to be & snuffed out the impending danger time after time after time & was my second pick fir MoTM.
Finally a special mention to my MoTM, Fabian Delph. He was absolutely brilliant tonight & is proving what I've been saying all season, that our success will come down to our strength in depth & Mangala, Danillo & Delph in particular.
Delph is a seriously underrated player, but as an accomplished central midfielder, I had no doubts of him adapting to LB, & he's proved it to be well within his skill set.
2 played, 2 wins, 6 scored & 6 points with 0 conceded. So far, so good; but we still have a way to go & need to be more clinical in front of goal.
PS: Gutted to hear about Mendy , but I was made up to see Gundogan come on & immediately pick up the pace...
