Manchester City decimate Sporting in ruthless Champions League last 16 display

Manchester City ended their Champions League last 16 tie with Sporting as a contest by battering the home side 5-0 in Lisbon on Tuesday night in the first leg.

Pep Guardiola’s side were clear favourites for the match and they displayed an incredible level of complete superiority over their hosts.

Sporting tailed off a little in the second half, but did little wrong in the first despite already being four goals down, such was the superb performance of the visitors.

The home side would have planned to keep it tight early on against the Premier League champions, but that ploy was quickly out of the window when Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring after just seven minutes.

Bernardo Silva doubled City’s lead with a really special piece of technique 10 minutes later, left-footed on the half-volley from inside the penalty box which the goalkeeper will barely have seen.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>ð¥ Bernardo Silva ð¥ He’s slammed the ball home right on the half-volley! A tricky technique made to look so easy… 𤤠Man City are flying! pic.twitter.com/va3h6S9T4c

It was Phil Foden’s turn to find the back of the net on 32 minutes, finishing from close range after former Liverpool man Sebastian Coates didn’t deal with a Mahrez cross. Bernardo Silva got his second shortly before half-time thanks to a Raheem Sterling assist and a heavy deflection on his effort.

Silva’s first goal may still have been the best goal of the night, but Sterling did his best to take that award for himself when he scored 55 minutes in.

The England winger curled one into the top corner from 20 yards to follow up the superb hat-trick he scored against Norwich City in the Premier League at the weekend.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Raheeeeem! ð¯ Sterling