Gladbach vs Man City result: Player ratings as Bernardo Silva stars in first-leg win

Manchester City seized control of their Champions League last-16 tie with Borussia Monchengladbach after securing a 2-0 win in Hungary.

City had one or two early openings and Raheem Sterling wanted a penalty which wasn’t given, but the breakthrough came just before the half-hour mark as Bernardo Silva headed in Joao Cancelo’s cross.

The away goal was a huge positive and Pep Guardiola’s team continued to dominate without getting too many clear sights of goal, with Phil Foden, Silva and Cancelo all regularly involved.

READ MORE: Champions League knock-out fixtures by date and time

After the break the trend was the same, but ‘Gladbach were more of a threat on the counter and Alassane Plea backheeled a clever flick just wide of the post. Bernardo Silva then turned provider to put a more realistic look on the scoreline, Gabriel Jesus turning home from close range.

Here are the player ratings from the first leg on Wednesday night.

Borussia Monchengladbach

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Yann Sommer – 6. Couldn’t do anything about the goal. Very strong with his footwork under pressure and dealt well with aerial deliveries.

Stefan Lainer – 5. Playing right-back against City should come with a health warning. And an apology for the player tasked with doing it. Predictably failed to stop the rotating advances of Foden, Gundogan, Cancelo or Sterling in that channel.

Nico Elvedi – 5. Beaten by the cross for both City goals. Not his finest night.

Matthias Ginter – 6. Good on the ball and helping his team evade the press. Made a few important clearances from through passes.

Ramy Bensebaini – 7. Great recovery tackle on Sterling in the box in the first half and had several big moments after the break too, with blocks and interceptions against dangerous runs from wide.

Denis Zakaria – 7. Worked hard off the ball and did spark the couple of counters that ‘Gladbach managed, nicking the ball and playing forward quickly. Didn’t quite get the last pass right, though.

Christoph Kramer – 5. Unable to really lock down the space in front of the centre-backs, particularly in City’s right channel.

Florian Neuhaus – 6. Supported play when he could but not really involved in BMG’s attacking moves.

Jonas Hofmann – 6. Lots of running, a few through passes down the channel, but rarely able to get into the area.

Lars Stindl – 5. Spurned one or two chances to launch a counter and was unable to tie down Rodri when he dropped deeper, either.

Alassane Plea – 5. Not much he could do with such a lack of service but did almost score once audacious effort.

Subs

Valentino Lazaro – 5.

Marcus Thuram – 6.

Breel Embolo – 6.

Hannes Wolf – n/a

Man City

Ederson – 7. Some quick-thinking to clear up long balls outside the box. Didn’t have a save to make.

Kyle Walker – 6. The regular outlet down the right flank, though not overly employed on this occasion.

Ruben Dias – 7. Confident, controlled and composed throughout.

Aymeric Laporte – 7. Strong and assured, looking closer to his best than he has in recent matches.

Joao Cancelo – 8. One of the most creative full-backs in Europe and it doesn’t matter which side he’s on. Spent most of the game in central midfield when City had possession and didn’t put a foot wrong.

Rodri – 8. Impossible to bypass or dispossess and he kept City on the front foot with a regular switch of play. The whole Gladbach midfield just seemed to be chasing him at one stage or another.

Ilkay Gundogan – 7. Played the facilitator role tonight rather than a final-third threat. As good as ever doing so.

Bernardo Silva – 9. Funnelled passes through the small gaps to create chances early on and headed in the opener after a great run into the box. Teed up Jesus with another good header across goal.

Raheem Sterling – 6. A few frustrating dribbles for the captain, running into packed areas of the box but committing defenders with regularity.

Gabriel Jesus – 7. Didn’t see much fall his way but, as always, kept putting himself in dangerous positions and eventually got his reward with the second.

Phil Foden – 7. Clever with his passing and dribbling and always looked capable of scoring or creating a chance.

Subs

Riyad Mahrez – 6.

Sergio Aguero – n/a

Ferran Torres – n/a

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