Nedum Onuoha has explained why he would hate to defend against one Manchester City forward after his exciting display in the Champions League.
Manchester City picked up their first win in the new-look Champions League on Tuesday evening as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava.
It was a comfortable evening for Pep Guardiola’s side, who were two up within 15 minutes as Ilkay Gundogan got his first goal since returning to the club and Phil Foden notched his first of the campaign.
Erling Haaland got his customary strike after the break, meaning he now has more goals than appearances in Europe’s top competition, before James McAtee added a fourth with his first City goal.
The Blues easily could have won by even more, especially after a completely dominant opening 45 in which Jeremy Doku ran the Slovakian defence ragged.
Former City man Nedum Onuoha was left impressed by the Belgian’s display and explained a trait he really likes about him.
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Nedum Onuoha names Jeremy Doku’s great quality
Speaking on City’s coverage of the game, Onuoha gave a grand appraisal of Doku’s first-half display. He said: “What I like about Doku as well is that he’s very good at changing tempo.
“If I was to be playing full-back against him, he lulls you into thinking you’ve got things under control because he’s slowed it down.
“But what he has in his back pocket is he knows when he’s going to speed it up again, whereas you don’t. You try to read him but as we see with the little fake over the ball, it’s so sharp.
“By the time he plants his foot and gone, you’ve not really got time to react. He’s being very progressive on that side.
“I think he obviously would like to play on the left but he’s playing on the right, holding the width, and he’s creating the space for the likes of Foden.
“When Doku is out wide, low and behold, there’s Foden in the right area and it’s a magnificent finish from the star boy.”
A great performance for Jeremy Doku
He was obviously helped by coming against one of the weakest defences in the whole competition – they conceded five to Celtic last time out – but it was still a fine performance from Doku.
The winger was electric down the right, despite being on his unfavoured side, and was a constant threat throughout the game.
Doku was always positive, getting on the ball and looking to twist his opposing full-back like a pretzel. His speed and directness caused nightmares and it’s a wonder he didn’t get more than the one assist. He was also unlucky not to score when a shot bounced off the post.
The performance came at a good time, too, given Doku is facing stiff competition for a spot on the flank at present.
Jack Grealish’s positive start to the season has seen him fight his way back into Guardiola’s strongest side, while Bernardo Silva and Savinho are also vying for spots on the team.
With Foden back scoring, too, there are now healthy options on the flanks and everyone will have to up their form to earn a spot. It looks like iron is sharpening iron.
