Dynamo Kyiv 1 Manchester City 3
Manchester City should be supremely confident of going beyond the Champions League last 16 at the third time of asking particularly if Dynamo Kyiv are shut out more ruthlessly in the return leg.
Until a peach of a curled Yaya Touré strike near the end gave City a two-goal cushion Manuel Pellegrini’s team had sloppily allowed Kyiv back into the tie during a second half in which they scored and gave City other scares.
Chief among these was a Vitaliy Buyalskiy effort that forced a superb Joe Hart save to his right that stopped a certain equaliser before Touré struck.
This year’s quest to reach the quarter-finals for the first time began with Touré strong-arming Denys Garmash to give away a first free-kick. This was floated in by Andriy Yarmalenko and when the No10 followed on into the area the ball came back to him and he forced Hart to tip a cross-shot on to the bar.
Pellegrini sent his side out in a 4-4-1-1 shape that had Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling flanking Touré and Fernando in midfield and David Silva behind Sergio Agüero.
After Touré pinged a ball into Agüero who returned it for the Ivorian to hit it at Oleksandr Shovkovskiy, Kyiv again threatened. Lukasz Teodorczyk, profiting from Fernando’s clumsy play, broke clear but his effort did not trouble Hart.
Now, though, came the opener from City. This derived from fine work along his left from Sterling who won the visitors’ opening corner. Kyiv had been unable to make the two they had previously taken count, and Silva was to show them how.
From the left quadrant he curved the ball on a deep parabola on to Touré’s head. He headed down and Agüero was unmarked and in no mood to miss from close range for a 16th goal in the competition from his past 17 starts.
Moments later, the Argentinian should have doubled the lead. Garmash dawdled, Fernando stole the ball, and when it was eventually recycled to Agüero the striker’s run was clever as it peeled off to the right but the finish was less so, blazing across Shovkovskiy and wide.
A truism of this City side is they find it hard to shut the back door. Just as Fernando’s earlier error allowed Teodorczyk in so too a Nicolás Otamendi mistake ceded possession to the danger man Yarmolenko and his clever pass in behind again released Teodorczyk, but his effort lacked composure.
An open contest was developing in which each time Kyiv or City were on the ball they pushed forward instantly. A fine tackle by Fernando took possession and he sprayed it left to Agüero whose run was mirrored by Touré. The ball came to the Ivorian precisely where he would want and the shot forced Shovkovskiy to turn it away for a corner.
The 41-year-old could do nothing to prevent City’s classy second as the break neared. Agüero twisted and turned and backheeled to Sterling. The forward ghosted into space and when he laid the ball over from the left this removed the Kyiv rearguard and Silva could not and did not miss.
This had been Kyiv’s return to competitive play following the winter break, though Serhiy Rebrov’s team entered the game having played 13 friendlies over the past month to mitigate against rustiness. There is no substitute for proper matches, though, and when the referee, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, blew for half-time Kyiv found themselves seriously up against it.
Perhaps referencing the now infamous decision to start six teenagers in Sunday's 5-1 defeat at Chelsea, before kick-off Pellegrini said: "We have a very good starting 11 and now we need a performance as we play against a difficult team. It is always important to score an away goal. Our target, of course, is to try to score from the beginning. It is a very important moment."
He would have been pleased with the opening effort then. It meant City were coasting and the Chilean’s interval chat might have stressed to his players the importance of simply continuing as they had: squeeze Kyiv, take the ball, then move towards goal at pace.
Rebrov replaced Teodorczyk with Junior Moraes for the second half and the hope might have been the No11 could be as ruthless as City had proved in front of goal. Moraes was handed the ball by a clumsy pass from Gaël Clichy and the ensuing Kyiv attack ended with Yarmolenko firing a shot at Hart that was a warning to City to refocus.
To quieten the Olimpiyskiy stadium the best ploy was to grab the ball and come at Kyiv. Sterling caught on and might have won a penalty when going down near Aleksandar Dragovic in the home area but Mateu Lahoz was unimpressed. A second shout for a spot-kick came a few minutes later when Dragovic this time came together with Silva and the Spaniard appealed but again the referee said no.
These non-awards were costly as in-between Kyiv struck and City could curse their luck. Otamendi headed clear only so see Vitaliy Buyalsky’s effort pinball off him and past Hart for 2-1. This had become uncomfortable for City. Veleso found Yarmolenko who should have set up Moraes, then Sterling had to make a saving tackle to thwart Veloso. But Touré’s late goal increased the margin in what ended as a fine victory. As long as they are professional City should finish business at the Etihad Stadium in three weeks.
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