Manchester City players head straight into training the morning after Hoffenheim victory, as Leroy Sane says side have rediscovered their verve
- Manchester City players returned to training on Thursday after Hoffenheim win
- Leroy Sane admits the side had to wake up after slow start against the Germans
- Pep Guardiola’s side lost their grasp on first in the Premier League last weekend
Leroy Sane felt Manchester City rediscovered their verve as they overcame a slow start against Hoffenheim to claim top spot in their Champions League group.
City, who were back in training first thing on Thursday morning ahead of their clash with Everton, were knocked off the top of the Premier League as they suffered their first domestic defeat of the season at Chelsea last weekend and the hangover initially seemed to carry over into Wednesday’s outing.
The German side created some good early chances at the Etihad Stadium and took an early lead with a penalty from former Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric.
Ederson heads in for training the morning after Manchester City’s win over Hoffenheim
Raheem Sterling played the entire 90 minutes but was back in first thing with team-mates
Riayd Mahrez, who was chauffeured into the Etihad Campus, was an unused substitute
Bernardo Silva keeps his hood up as makes his way in first thing on Thursday morning
That sparked City into life and they responded by hitting the woodwork twice through Gabriel Jesus and Nicolas Otamendi before two goals from Sane secured first place in Group F. City created numerous other chances and should have won more convincingly than 2-1.
‘At the beginning maybe we were a little bit sleepy but at the end we did it really good,’ said Sane. ‘We woke up and played really good football. I am happy, especially with the way we played altogether.’
All of City’s best chances in the first half came from set-pieces with Sane equalising from a stunning free-kick on the stroke of half-time. Due to a spate of injuries, City had no obvious specialists from the 25-yard distance on the field when the 22-year-old stepped up.
‘I think in my professional career I have never scored a free-kick,’ said Sane. ‘I thought this was the moment and I just tried it.’
Sane paid tribute to team-mate Raheem Sterling for his involvement in his second, which came from a quick counter-attack.
Sterling was the architect for Manchester City’s second goal in their Champions League clash
After being left on the bench, Mahrez will be hoping for some action against Everton
He said: ‘I thought Raheem was running in space and I wanted to give him the ball so he could go one-on-one.
‘But he’s got good vision, a good eye, and he saw the run coming and passed again to me. I just had to tap in the ball. It was a really good goal.’
Sane, however, could have had a hat-trick had he not passed up a shooting chance on another lightning break from deep. Again Sterling played in Sane but he opted to pass inside to Bernardo Silva, who was denied by goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
Sane said: ‘I just regret we didn’t score the goal. It was three against just the goalkeeper.
‘I thought I would pass to Bernardo and he would just have to tap the ball in but my eye wasn’t as good as Raheem’s.
‘I think it would have been better if I’d just shot the ball in but at the end we are all happy we won.’
Leroy Sane grabbed the two goals for City on Wednesday that ensured they finished top
Sergio Aguero heads into training after being given the night off against Hoffenheim
Fabian Delph (obscured) was a 64th-minute subsititute for Pep Guardiola’s side on Wednesday