Gabriel Jesus does his best to climb Man City pecking order against Sporting

Gabriel Jesus had more to prove than most as he lined up for Manchester City's dead rubber against Sporting. The Brazilian forward has not started in the Premier League for his club since New Year's Day, with his two other starts in 2022 coming at Swindon Town and Peterborough.

Jesus has been injured for a chunk of the year so it is not like he has been shunned, but it is also fair to say that he finds himself at the bottom of the pecking order when Pep Guardiola is picking his attackers; Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez all started the derby and enhanced their standing, while Raheem Sterling could consider himself unfortunate to be named on the bench.

Given the fact Jesus has decided he doesn't want to play centrally, he has narrowed his opportunity for starts - especially when his most direct competition for a spot on the right wing, Mahrez, is having his best-ever goalscoring season and already has 21. This is a critical year for Jesus too, given he is not certain of a place at the World Cup in December 2022 and is out of contract at the Etihad in the summer of 2023.

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Having been handed the double-edged sword of trying to impress in a tie that was already over, Jesus did about as much as he could against Sporting. He should have had at least one penalty in an impressive first-half showing on the right wing that left Guardiola bemused over the officiating.

As ever with Jesus and with City though, the goals and assist tallies did not tell the full story. The Brazilian's workrate was excellent and he provided superb cover for rookie CJ Egan-Riley on the right flank, travelling between both boxes swiftly to assist City in