De Bruyne inspires Man City to win at Copenhagen in Champions League’s round of 16

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Feb 14, (AP): Kevin De Bruyne scored one goal and had a hand in two more as Manchester City resumed its quest to retain the Champions League title with a 3-1 win at FC Copenhagen in the first leg of the round of 16.
Only a careless mistake from goalkeeper Ederson Moraes, which led to Copenhagen’s equalizer in the 34th minute, prevented City from taking an even more commanding lead into the second leg in Manchester in three weeks.

De Bruyne is often City’s man for the big occasion and he delivered again at the start of the knockout stage, driving home the opening goal at atmospheric Parken Stadium in the 10th minute after running onto Phil Foden’s pass on the right side of the area.

Copenhagen, without a competitive match in two months because of the Danish league’s midseason break, was outplayed in the first half – by the 20th minute, City had enjoyed 85% possession – but still managed to pull level in the 34th after Ederson’s pass out from his area went astray.
It was intercepted by Mohamed Elyounoussi, whose shot was blocked by City defender Ruben Dias. The ball flew toward Copenhagen midfielder Magnus Mattsson, who curled home a first-time shot from edge of the area in a memorable way to mark not only his Copenhagen debut but his first ever Champions League game.
City retook the lead in the first minute of first-half stoppage time. While the build-up wasn’t pretty, the finish from Bernardo Silva certainly was.

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