BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (Reuters) -Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and James McAtee got on the scoresheet as the visitors thrashed Slovan Bratislava 4-0 on Tuesday for the first victory of their Champions League campaign.
City, winners of the 2023 Champions League, have four points after two games, having opened this season’s campaign with a 0-0 home draw with Inter Milan. Slovan’s loss comes on the heels of a 5-1 thrashing by Celtic.
“Got to give (Slovan) respect,” Foden told TNT Sports. “It was difficult to break them down. The atmosphere was unbelievable.
“We did the job at the end and we managed to find the space. On another night there could have been more goals, but we’re delighted with the 4-0. After the draw (with Inter) we had to get the win, so we’re on the right steps now.”
The Premier League champions parked themselves in Slovan’s half and peppered the home side with shots all night.
Gundogan got City on the scoreboard in the eighth minute with his first goal since his return from a season at Barcelona. The German’s shot from edge of the penalty area deflected off the leg of Kyriakos Savvidis and into the net.
Foden, who scored 27 goals in all competitions last term, doubled City’s lead with his first of the season in the 15th minute, latching onto a pass from Jeremy Doku and curling a strike into the bottom corner.
Haaland netted his 42nd goal in Europe’s top competition in the 58th, sprinting onto Rico Lewis’s pass and then stepping around keeper Dominik Takac before slotting into the empty net.
Haaland, who has 11 goals this season across all competitions, took a seat on the bench two minutes later, his work done for the night.
Foden chipped a pass to McAtee for his first ever City goal in the 74th minute to cap a perfect night for the visitors.
“I’m over the moon,” said McAtee, who joined City at age 11. “It’s what every kid dreams of, so it’s a dream come true.”
The score could have been far more lopsided in the one-sided game as City pummelled Slovan with 28 shots, 14 on target, including three that rang off the woodwork.
Takac made a couple of fabulous saves in the final few minutes, throwing a leg out to stop a Gundogan shot and then diving to push away a shot from John Stones.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)
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