A cameo from a Manchester City midfielder showed just how important he could be

Manchester City cruised to a 4-nil victory over Slovan Bratislava last night. Goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland and James McAtee saw City claim their first win of this season’s UEFA Champions League league phase. Across the night there were several standout performances from City’s players. But the cameo from James McAtee showed that he is capable of, and should have a role to play for Manchester City this season.

James McAtee replaced Erling Haaland on the hour mark during last night’s match. City’s top scorer’s work was done after scoring his 11th of the season. With the game effectively over when McAtee came on, there was still an opportunity for the young playmaker to impress over the final half-hour of the game. That’s exactly what he did.

McAtee showed last night that he has the game to play a role for Pep Guardiola this season. He thrived in the pockets of space left in the Slovan Bratislava defence. McAtee scored his first goal for Manchester City last night. He calmly finished a move that was made in Manchester as he combined with Rico Lewis and Phil Foden to score City’s fourth goal of the night. Manchester City have struggled to break down teams that employ a low defensive block of late. McAtee showed last night that he may be the ideal player to help the world champions break down a packed defence.

READ MORE: Breaking down a low block is still a work in progress for Manchester City.

Speaking after his team’s 4-nil win over Slovan Bratislava Pep Guardiola was full of praise for McAtee’s performance. The City manager believes he can count on McAtee to contribute across this season. When asked about McAtee Guardiola said: “Everyone adores him, you have seen the reaction of the players so everyone loves him. I have the feeling the same as in the beginning. With teams who play so deep he has the quality to find it. He scored and had a few more chances. I always had the feeling that I believe more he can play here than he does. Hopefully minutes can help him and show that he is part of that. Of course, he will not be a regular player this season but in a lot of games he will help us and when he plays like he did today I can always count on him perfectly.”

Manchester City will face tougher tests across this season than the one posed by Slovan Bratislava last night. Although their opponent last night wasn’t the strongest the performance of James McAtee was a highlight of the night. He showed that he could play a big role this season and that he has the tools to aid the world champions when he is called upon.