Manchester City secured progress to the Champions League knockout stages with two games to spare after a comfortable victory over Olympiakos in Piraeus.
Pep Guardiola’s side required one point to reach the last-16, but victory on Wednesday ensures they remain firm favourites to finish top of Group C.
City dominated 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.
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 arrived in the closing minutes as City’s profligacy offered their opponents hope of an unlikely point.
Four wins from four 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 quarter-final defeat by Lyon in last season’s competition, 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.
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).
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Olympiakos
Squad number1Player nameJosé Sá
Squad number21Player nameDräger
Squad number24Player nameBa
Squad number3Player nameRúben Semedo
Squad number66Player nameCissé
Squad number13Player nameRafinha
Squad number19Player nameMasouras
Squad number6Player nameM’Vila
Squad number10Player namePepe
Squad number4Player nameMady Camara
Squad number7Player nameFortounis
Squad number2Player nameSoudani
Squad number5Player nameBouchalakis
Squad number17Player nameVrousai
Line-ups
Olympiakos
- 1Malheiro de Sá
- 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
- 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
- 21Torres
- 25Fernandinho
- 26Mahrez
- 33Carson
- 50García
- 61Nmecha
- 69Doyle
- 80Palmer
Live Text
Match ends, Olympiakos 0, Manchester City 1.
Second Half ends, Olympiakos 0, Manchester City 1.
Rúben Dias (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Pape Abou Cissé (Olympiakos).
Foul by Sergio Agüero (Manchester City).
Ousseynou Ba (Olympiakos) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Pape Abou Cissé (Olympiakos) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses the top left corner. Assisted by Mady Camara with a cross.
Hand ball by Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City).
Attempt missed. Konstantinos Fortounis (Olympiakos) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right.
Fernandinho (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Rúben Semedo (Olympiakos).
Substitution, Manchester City. Tommy Doyle replaces Ilkay Gündogan.
Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City).
Konstantinos Fortounis (Olympiakos) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Fernandinho (Manchester City).
Hillal Soudani (Olympiakos) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Offside, Olympiakos. Pape Abou Cissé tries a through ball, but Hillal Soudani is caught offside.
Offside, Olympiakos. Pape Abou Cissé tries a through ball, but Hillal Soudani is caught offside.
Foul by João Cancelo (Manchester City).
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