City avoid fright night as Savinho breathes life into stuttering side

Manchester City ought not to have needed a wake-up call given the situation they were in, not to mention the stakes.

- David Hytner

Fail to win here and ignominy belonged to them, a Champions League exit at the first hurdle. The longest league table in football history would not lie. And yet Pep Guardiola's team waited for one all the same, sleepwalking towards disaster.

When the half-time whistle went, they had been second best to Club Brugge and they trailed to Raphael Onyedika's well-taken goal on 45 minutes. It was not just City's accountants who shifted uncomfortably. The club's sporting pride, their reputation, was on the line.

Relief was the overriding emotion when City actually turned up for the second half. On this evidence and plenty more since the end of October, a repeat of the 2023 triumph in this competition is a long way away. They were simply happy to progress into the playoff round.

They just seemed to mean it more after half-time and once Mateo Kovacic had equalised and Josko Gvardiol forced Joel Ordonez into an own goal, it felt like a done deal. Savinho, on as a substitute to good effect, would add the third. City live to fight another day.