Shaun Goater says he was amazed by one thing a Manchester City player did during last night’s Champions League match against Real Madrid.
The Blues drew 3-3 against Real at the Santiago Bernabeu in their first-leg quarter-final tie against the Spanish side.
At the midway point of the match, the Citizens found themselves 2-1 down after conceding two goals within the space of two minutes.
Despite that, one pundit and former City player took the time to share some significant praise for one thing he noticed in the first half.
Goater says one Man City player did something ‘sensational’ against Real Madrid
Speaking in a livestream shared on the club’s official YouTube channel at halftime, Goater had this to say about the early free-kick scored by Bernardo Silva to put City 1-0 up against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
He said: “I thought it was sensational. I think, probably, 99% of people watching are thinking this ball is going to be delivered in the box, but he’s looked and thought the goalkeeper is giving me too much here.
“He’s probably hit it 80%, not 100%, so he can still have the accuracy and its just crept in. It’s really intelligent from him to be able to be able to see that and recognise that. He’s probably whispered to [Jack] Grealish ‘I can go for this.’
“Players standing over free-kicks, they know what free-kick they should be doing as in where they need to be delivering the ball, but he’s looking and just think the keeper is giving me a lot here, I can go for this.
“He doesn’t hit it with 100%, but I think it’s enough power and pace that it still keeps the accuracy. It was absolutely brilliant.”
Quick thinking from Bernardo Silva
After Grealish had drawn a foul from Aurelien Tchouameni, which resulted in the Frenchman being given a yellow card and therefore ruling him out of next week’s second-leg match at the Etihad Stadium, Silva set up the free-kick.
The Portuguese midfielder initially set the free-kick up to cross the ball into the penalty area, before he then had a low shot at goal which caught the Real goalkeeper, Andriy Lenin, off guard and ultimately went in the net to give the away side an early lead.
Even though the Blues didn’t end up winning the game, this goal from Silva was still a fine piece of clever and quick-thinking attacking play to put City ahead.