Manchester City 4-1 Club Brugge: Champions League – as it happened

Our man at the Etihad, Richard Jolly, has filed his match report and you can read it here. Thanks for joining me. Bye!

The other Group A game between PSG and Leipzig has ended 2-2. That’s a brilliant result for City, who move top of the table on nine points. PSG are on eight, Brugge on four and Leipzig on one.

“I thought we had a sloppy first half but got in at half-time and spoke about it and we changed it,” says Phil Foden. “We looked a bit heavy [in the first half] but we sorted it. The manager wasn’t happy but he changed some things and we hurt them in behind and found space. Once we get our rhythm and play our lovely football the chances start opening up. I’m scoring a lot of goals and playing the nine role now and just enjoying it. It’s a really important win and puts us in a strong position. I’m looking forward to [Saturday],” he smiles, like a child who can’t wait to get his hands in the biscuit tin.

90+1 min: After that first-half scare it has ended up being very comfortable for City. Gundogan and Rodri have controlled play brilliantly.

90 min: Sterling skedaddles down the right wing and whips a cross in to the near post where Palmer – again – is waiting to head home, but a Brugge defender leaps in front of him and clears for a corner.

89 min: Kamal Sowah is on for the excellent Charles De Ketelaere, who looks to have a very bright future – and quite possibly a big-money move – ahead of him.

87 min: Palmer shows silky footwork to shift the ball on to his right foot and curl a low shot at goal that Mignolet does well to palm away. Then Jesus scurries into the box but gets too square as the Brugge keeper races out to him and spreads himself to parry his shot away. Mignolet has been excellent tonight. It could have been a similar scoreline to the one in Belgium had it not been for him.

85 min: There’s a 16-year-old on the pitch … and it’s a school night! Rits is off and Noah Mbamba-Muanda is on. Sixteen and in the Champions League. I hope he told his parents where he was going.

83 min: Palmer is involved straight away, wriggling away from Mechele and driving a cross into the six-yard box that is hacked clear. Lovely feet from the youngster.

81 min: More subs! Foden is replaced by the 19-year-old City starlet Cole Palmer. And Zinchenko is on for Walker.

79 min: Brugge make some changes. The impressive Mata, clutching his hamstring, is replaced by Van der Brempt. And the old war horse Bas Dost, who has been around longer than time itself, is on for Lang.

77 min: Jesus is lively. He seems to be popping up in possession at every opportunity. He helps stitch together a move which results in De Bruyne volleying over from an impossible angle on the left.

74 min: A couple more changes. Federico Ricca is on for Eduard Sobol, who was starting to struggle against Bernardo, who is replaced by De Bruyne. What a player to be able to bring on. Especially against a tired defensive team.

70 min: Sterling is immediately involved, drifting into the box and shifting the ball on to his left foot once, twice and then at the third shift he fires at a wall of defenders from eight yards out.

68 min: That dribble was Grealish’s last involvement. He’s taken off and replaced by Jesus. He can have his calves massaged now. Sterling is coming on, too. He replaces the scorer of the second goal, Mahrez.

66 min: Foden fizzes a pass into Grealish, who scurries into the box and looks for all the world like he’s going to nick the ball to his right and curl into the top corner as he does most times he scores. But Mata has clearly done his homework and hooks a leg around to take the ball off his toes. Brilliant defending.

63 min: Bernardo is beginning to find his dancing feet. He sits Sobol down with a sharp turn inside but watches the ball run out of play. Bernardo’s a lovely footballer. He glides when he dribbles.

61 min: Gundogan fires over after anticipating a weak clearance by Mata. He hits it on the bounce, though, and it was always going to find a home in the stand behind Mignolet’s goal.

60 min: City have had 70% possession. It feels like more than that.

58 min: Brugge are still having the odd foray down the City left. Enough that City still don’t look entirely comfortable at 2-1. Lang is getting behind Cancelo more than Guardiola would like.

56 min: That goal came only a minute after De Ketelaere had the chance to put Brugge 2-1 up. The bright young forward found space between Laporte and Stones, took a lovely touch but dragged his left-footed shot wide.

52 min: Bernardo springs into life, sending Sobol to the wrong fire with a stepover and then driving into the box only to run the ball out of play. That was much brighter play though.

50 min: The corner is cleared and then Cancelo curls a delicious inswinging cross into the six-yard box where both Stones and Laporte are queuing up for heading practice. Stones reaches it first but he gets ahead of the ball and nods it weakly down into the ground. Mignolet is grateful to watch it bounce into his gloves.

48 min: I’m not sure Brugge have had more than a couple of touches of the ball in the second half. It’s complete domination for City again. Cancelo tries to curl a shot into the top corner from 25 yards but a touch from De Ketelaere deflects it out for a corner.

47 min: Mahrez pops up in the box on the right-hand side after a clever little pass from Grealish but his first-touch is a little heavy and Mignolet rushes out to close him down as the winger fires a shot at goal.

“I thought a City player tried to clear De Ketelaere’s shot and it hit Stones from very close quarters,” writes Richard Arthur. “You make it sound as though Stones was clumsy.” I’ve just seen another replay and Bernardo tries to deflect the ball as it comes across and clearly wrongfoots Stones, whose face felt the full force of teh ball as it smashed into it and went in. There was little he could do about it, though to be fair, I only wrote that it clattered off him earlier.

“The Barcelona and Portugal goalkeeper Vítor Baia wore a shirt with the number 99 on it,” writes Chris Fowler. “Difficult to think of any less serious number to put on a shirt, unless someone has worn 00.”

Well, funny you should mention that, Chris. “Well there was the famous Bixente Lizarazu, who chose the number 69 ostensibly due to it being the year of his birth,” begins Colin Young. “Although we all know it was really because he could play in several positions.” Steady now, Colin, we’re still four minutes off the 9pm watershed in the UK.

It’s hard to know what to make of that. Either Clement’s 6-3-1 is a tactical masterstroke or, more likely, City haven’t really been at the races. As bright as Foden has been at times they could perhaps do with getting Jesus on the pitch to occupy the centre-backs so the other forwards can find more pockets of space.

45 min: Cancelo takes a tumble on the edge of the area after a surging run forwards. The referee waves play on and Brugge break. Lang tries to escape down the right but Foden, of all people, tracks back and nicks teh ball away from him.

43 min: Grealish runs down a blind alley and Brugge look like they’re going to get in at half-time level with City.

42 min: Walker fizzes a cross in towards Gundogan, who get sin front of Mignolet to tap home only to see Hendry’s outstretched leg divert the ball out for a corner. That was wonderful defending. The corner is caught comfortably by Mignolet, who had enough time to shout keeper’s ball in six languages as he plucked it out of the air unchallenged.

41 min: De Ketelaere is great fun to watch. He’s full of movement and trickery. It takes three City players to finally take the ball off the youngster after he tries to take the entire City defence on by himself.

39 min: This is all very slow by City. Bernardo tries to take matters into his own hands by doing keepy-uppies over Hendry and laying the ball off for Gundogan, but he gives it straight to Brugge.

38 min: Mata and Lang are enjoying themselves on the left. They seem to have a lovely understanding. Lang wallops a cross into the box that cannons off Laporte and into Edersen’s arms. He’s offside, mind.

34 min: De Ketelaere is wearing the No 90 shirt. I see no reason for that. He’s 20 so it’s not the year of his birth. Maybe he wanted the No 9 and it wasn’t available. Any other ridiculous shirt numbers you can think of? Derek Riordan once wore the No 1 for Hibs and he’s not a goalkeeper.

33 min: It’s more of a match now. City are still bossing possession but they look a little vulnerable down the left and Brugge seem to know it.

30 min: A free-kick to Brugge over on the right. Everything good they do is going down that side. It was Lang who was clipped by Rodri as he cut inside. De Ketelaere fizzes in an inswinger that clips a City player and ends up in Ederson’s arms. Then some sloppiness from City. Cancelo gives the ball away and De Ketelaere is on it like an eager Spaniel, picking up possession and fizzing a shot straight at Ederson.

29 min: Mahrez whips a corner into the box. Nsoki heads clear and Rodri shapes to shoot but his pounced on by Sobol before he can connect. Mata finally hacks clear. He’d doing very well up against Grealish on the right hand side. The £100m man has hardly been involved.

28 min: This Brugge performance is reminiscent of Iceland at the 2016 Euros. They’re soaking up so much pressure and when they do break, they’re rapid, and it seems to come as a shock to City. Like poking a sleeping Bear.

25 min: There’s a chorus of deafening boos from the City fans. Why? Because Brugge’s travelling support have just launched into a raucous rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone. Perhaps they just heard that Sadio Mané has put Liverpool 2-0 up against Atlético. Or more likely, they’re up to mischief.

24 min: Lang comes scurrying up the right and floats a cross into the box that Stones clears for a corner in a rather panicked manner. There was no one near him. Thankfully, the corner comes to nought.

23 min: Foden overhits a pass to Grealish. Bit of a collector’s item that.

20 min: The Brugge fans are making a rare old din after that goal. It was such an odd happening. Their second attack of the game, when City were still getting back into position. Since then, the game has reverted to type, with City hogging position and Brugge reversing into that ridiculously deep formation.

14 min: Mignolet gives Liverpool fans flashbacks by doing a Cruyff turn with Foden bearing down on him. Oof! It works though.

13 min: Cancelo has a shot blocked and Gundogan is sharply on to the rebound, which he sidefoots wide from a very tight angle with Mignolet sprawled in front of him.

11 min: Breaking news! Brugge have their first attack! Lang is sent scampering down the right, where he wins a corner. It’s sent deep and cleared, where Sobol drags a weak shot wide.

10 min: Cancelo turns sharply inside his marker and clips a delicious ball to Foden, who watches it over his shoulder and tries to volley first-time past Mignolet. But he scuffs it. It was a tough ask.

9 min: Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass.

8 min: Grealish slides a lovely weight of pass to Foden, who nips into a tiny pocket of space in the area, where he tries to smash a low cross into the six-yard box only to see the ball bounce off a defender and out for a corner. The corner is cleared.

6 min: Brugge just can’t keep hold of the ball. Mahrez wriggles into the box but has the ball stolen off him as he shapes to shoot on the right of the box. This Brugge formation is spectacular. They seem to be playing a 6-3-1.

4 min: City are in total control already. This could be a long night for the Belgians. Bernardo has a crack at goal from 20 yards but the ball clatters off a defender and Brugge scramble clear.

2 min: Cancelo finds Grealish on the left. He tries to get his toes twinkling but the ball is nicked off him by Mechele, who keeps his eye on the ball.

The Champions League anthem is booed heartily by the City fans, as it usually is these days. The Etihad looks pretty full and the City fans are in good voice, as are the rowdy Brugge fans.

Right, it’s almost time for kick-off. The teams emerge into the chill Manchester air. City fans hold up a banner “We’re with you Guido” in support of the Belgian Manchester City fan, Guido De Pauw, who was attacked and left in a coma after the match in Belgium. Get well soon, Guido.

When asked about the match yesterday, Club Brugge manager Philippe Clement was in good form and made it clear his side were not coming to Manchester to buy souvenirs in the Arndale Centre: “I want a team that fights really hard on the pitch. We score points in every match. We’re not here on a school trip, let’s be clear. We know we’re playing against one of the two best teams in the world, but we’ve shown some good things in the first match. They weren’t necessarily our best side, but it’s a challenge to do it in a better way and take it one step further.”

A word from Guardiola, who says he hasn’t had a bad week, and then seemed a little testy when asked if his team selection was made with an eye on Saturday’s visit to Old Trafford: “I select the best possible team to beat them. Looking at their lineup now, they change to five at the back … a 5-3-2 or 5-2-1-2. We have to change a little bit and have to adapt. When you have a result in the third game [like the 5-1] and managers do something, they cannot do the same [as] they did two weeks ago. The main target is to qualify for the last 16.”

In the early Champions League matches, Real Madrid needed two Karim Benzema goals to see off Shakhtar 2-1 in Group D. In Group B Milan drew 1-1 with Porto, so they’re still rooted to the bottom of their group.

Phil Foden will likely be playing as a false nine this evening, though he pops up in so many positions you could argue that description doesn’t really do him justice. But what a player. His touch, passing ability, pace and general awareness are just stunning. He’s so involved in games, too. And he’s getting stronger. Imagine how good he’ll be when he’s fully grown!

Whoever plays up front for Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday will not be facing Raphaël Varane:

Club Brugge were expected to be Group A’s whipping boys but up until the match against City last time out, they were impressive, holding PSG and beating Leipzig 2-1 in Germany. So expect them to give it a good go at the Etihad because a win would take them above City and into second place, as slim as their chances of doing that might seem. It could happen. Football can be an unpredictable business.

I’m sure Guardiola will be asked about De Bruyne before the match and I’m sure he’ll say it’s nothing more than he’s just being careful with a player who has had a few injury problems this year. He was a little off form against Palace and Guardiola substituted him after 60 minutes. Of that call he said: “About playing or resting him – this is my decision because I know a lot of information about a player.” Maybe he’s close to that “red zone” we often hear about. A midfield three of Gundogan, Rodri and Bernardo Silva is none too shabby. As for Grealish, perhaps starting him tonight is a sign that Sterling may play more of a part in the Manchester derby.