SAN FRANCISCO, November 03, (THEWILL) –Â Manchester City’s Ferran Torres became the third-youngest player in Champions League history to score in four consecutive appearances as he helped City to a third straight win in this season’s competition, in Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Olympiacos.
Before him, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland were the only players to have netted in four games in a row at a younger age than the 20-year-old Spain international. Torres scored in the 12th minute of the tie to add to his strikes against Porto and Marseille for City this term and against Atalanta while he was at Valencia last season.
City went into this game unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions and could have been out of sight by the time the Greek champions began to put them under pressure in the second half.
Torres met a City corner with a sublime backheeled shot that flew narrowly wide after just six minutes.
The youngster did better in the 12th minute. Playing a neat one-two with Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, Torres slid a low shot through the legs of Olympiacos Portuguese goalkeeper Jose Sa to put the hosts in front.
Raheem Sterling had the ball in the net in the 32nd minute, only to have his close-range effort ruled out for offside.
A poor pass by City right winger Phil Foden afforded French winger Mathieu Valbuena a shot at goal early in the second half but it went narrowly wide as Valbuena came under pressure centre back from John Stones.
Olympiacos striker Youssef El-Arabi tested keeper Ederson Moraes with a shot from just inside the box as City found themselves pinned back again. And Greek left back Jose Holebas later blazed wide.
But De Bruyne played in City’s Brazilian centre forward substitute Gabriel Jesus nine minutes from time. The Brazilian lashed the ball home from an acute angle.
Then, in the 90th minute, City’s Portuguese right back Joao Cancelo’s carefully placed shot found the bottom corner from just outside the box to wrap up the win.
20-year old Torres has staked his claim playing as a centre-forward option for injury-depleted City, with three goals in three UEFA Champions League appearances for City.
Greek side Olympiacos have just one goal to show for all their efforts in three UCL games this season. Such wasteful finishing has ensured they scored from none of their six shots on goal here. And it will be their Achilles heel if they drop from the competition.
City will trade tackles with Premier League champions Liverpool at home on Sunday, while Olympiacos travel to struggling OFI in the Greek Super League 1 on the same day for their next matches.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
