Manchester City etched their names into the history books of the Champions League this evening, en route to a comfortable win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
KDB & Gundo on target
Pep Guardiola’s men welcomed Bundesliga outfit Gladbach to the Etihad a short time ago, aiming to secure their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The Sky Blues headed into proceedings as overwhelming favourites to do exactly that, on the back of a 2-0 victory in the tie’s opener late last month.
And, when all was said and done in Manchester, a similar result saw City march on, towards a first ever Champions League crown.
An explosive opening to the action saw the game essentially put to bed within the opening 20 minutes. First, Kevin De Bruyne rattled home a stunning left-footed effort from the edge of the area:
A Kevin De Bruyne rocket! 🚀
Goal 💯 for Man City in all competitions this season 🔥
And what a goal it was! pic.twitter.com/PVAWWoulwK
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 16, 2021
Then, just minutes later, it was two, as a flowing team move saw Phil Foden slip Ilkay Gundogan in for a cool finish beyond Yann Sommer:
Another class Man City goal! 💥💥
Phil Foden with an exquisite turn, driving run and no-look pass 🔥
İlkay Gündoğan finishes the move off with composure and Pep Guardiola’s side are on the rampage! pic.twitter.com/cDde81A4cA
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 16, 2021
City, from here, unsurprisingly took their foot off the gas, to cruise into Friday’s Last-8 draw by means of a 4-0 aggregate victory.
Arsenal eyed
As outlined above, though, the Citizens’ latest win did not only prove significant in guiding Guardiola and co. through to the next round of Europe’s elite club competition.
It also saw the Premier League champions-elect etch their names into the history books of the Champions League.
As revealed in the aftermath of this evening’s clash, City have now gone seven successive European games without allowing a single goal.
This marks the joint-2nd most ever in the competition, with the Manchester giants’ total of 706 straight minutes without conceding good enough for outright 2nd on the all-time list.
7 – Manchester City are only the third team in UEFA Champions League history to keep seven consecutive clean sheets, after AC Milan (seven ending in April 2005) and Arsenal (10 ending in April 2006). Blockade. pic.twitter.com/nKOki31pcv
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 16, 2021
If the Sky Blues have genuine hopes of breaking the all-time record, though, they will need to navigate their way through both the competition’s quarter-finals and beyond, without seeing the ball fly past Ederson.
This comes with Arsenal having remarkably managed over 1,000 consecutive Champions League minutes without conceding back in 2006.
Manchester City have now gone the second longest amount of time in Champions League history without conceding a goal – 706 minutes.
They still need to go 330 more minutes without conceding to match Arsenal’s record of 16 hours in 2006.
What a side. pic.twitter.com/Jot9xN4WZ1
— bet365 (@bet365) March 16, 2021
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