SILVA SHINE DELIGHTS CITY

Bernardo delivers a beauty to prove he's the go-to guy

- Simon Mullock

BERNARDO SILVA is fast City's becoming Manchester's go-to guy on the big Champions League nights.

The non-stop Portugal midfielder came up with another vital goal as Pep Guardiola's European champions took a giant step towards the quarterfinals with an accomplished first-leg performance against the slayers of Manchester United.

Silva's past eight goals in the competition have all come in the knockout stages - and it is crazy to think that City would have sold him if Barcelona had come up with the cash two years ago.

The only disappointment for last season's Treble winners was that they did not put the contest totally out of sight before the return.

Magnus Copenhagen's goal, a smart finish by debutant Mattsson to cancel out Kevin De Bruyne's 10th-minute opener, only came courtesy of a terrible mistake by City keeper Ederson.

This was the Danish champions' first competitive game for 63 days - and when they were not chasing shadows they were reduced to putting the boot in.