Sergio Aguero fails to break Manchester City goalscoring record but Kevin De Bruyne stars to maintain 100% start

Manchester City 2 Shakhtar Donetsk 0: The Argentine missed a penalty but goals from De Bruyne and Sterling was enough

De Bruyne's fine strike gave City the lead (AFP/Getty Images)

One day soon enough Sergio Aguero will become Manchester City’s all-time record goalscorer. He could even have done it here tonight, but he missed what would have been the record-equalling penalty in the second half.

City’s real hero this evening was not Aguero but Kevin De Bruyne. He was the man who broke open this game, which City struggled with in the first half. He did so with a brilliant goal from nothing, just two minutes into the second half.

It was a curled 20-yarder from just outside the box, a goal reminiscent of his famous winner here against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-final in April 2016.

(AFP/Getty Images (AFP/Getty Images)

It was the type of goal that marks out De Bruyne’s decisive quality, his quick thinking and precise execution. It was a goal that marks out how he is City’s indispensable man, the player who elevates them from one level to the next.

Aguero is a City legend, and is proving plenty of people wrong with his continuing effectiveness this season. Seven goals already this season are testament to that. But De Bruyne is City’s least replaceable player and their most important one.

Without De Bruyne’s goal this could have been a frustrating night for a team who have grown used to steam-rolling opponents in the last few weeks. After 20 goals in their last four serious games they arrived here with intimidating momentum and yet they found themselves up against a side who were admirably unbowed.

(Getty Images (Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola said beforehand that Shakhtar would make it difficult for City, that they were a good team with good players who knew what they were doing at this level. But even he must have been surprised when the visitors went toe-to-toe with his own team over the first half. It was a world away from the instant wipe-out of City’s 4-0 win in Rotterdam two weeks ago.

Feyenoord gave up two goals in the first 10 minutes but here Shakhtar waited to get the measure of City then started to play. It certainly made a change from sides who comes to the Etihad to sit deep, defend and frustrate.

Bernard, the diminutive Brazilian, was the best player on the pitch, running the game from the left, looking like Shakhtar’s own version of David Silva. Fernandinho, a Shakhtar old-boy himself, had to bail City out twice with tackles and Ivan Ordets should have done better with a header from a free-kick.

(Getty Images (Getty Images)

City’s passing game, for once, was non-existent. When they attacked it was only in bursts, on the break, when Shakhtar had crept far too forward. Gabriel Jesus slid through Kevin De Bruyne whose near-post shot snuck just wide. Leroy Sane missed two good half-chances, a sign of things to come.

What City needed was a spark, a push, something different to change the game when they came out after half-time. It was not Aguero’s day, so it was De Bruyne who did it.

Winning the ball in midfield, he passed to David Silva, who held then returned the ball to De Bruyne on the edge of the box. He took a touch, opened his body and curled the ball into the top corner. Andriy Pyatov barely even tried to save it.

(Getty Images (Getty Images)

Like that, the game changed. City find it easier to control once ahead and soon enough they were creating chances for their second. Silva chipped a beautiful pass over the top, onto Aguero’s run, but even Pyatov could not avoid saving a volley hit straight at him. They had an even better chance when Kyle Walker released De Bruyne down the right, he whipped in a low cross but substitute Raheem Sterling skewed his shot wide, to Guardiola’s disbelief.

The best chance of all came when Sane squared up Ordets and won a penalty, giving Aguero the chance to draw level with Eric Brook’s record. But he could not rise to the occasion, hitting a predictable, saveable penalty straight at Pyatov’s rightwards dive.

It was a disappointment for Aguero and for City too, as their wait to confirm the win went on. Sane missed another two good chances and it took two substitutes to combine in the final minute to find that crucial second.

Bernardo Silva bent his run in behind down the right, received a pass then pulled a perfect ball back into the box for Sterling. It was a harder chance than the one Sterling missed – that is often the way with him – but he clipped it in off the underside of the bar and wheeled away.