Manchester City have won the Champions League, beating Inter 1-0 in Istanbul – and John Stones is drawing plenty of praise for his performance.
Pep Guardiola’s side have finally won the only trophy that has long eluded them, with Rodri scoring the game’s only goal.
City struggle for a big part of the game.
There were a lot of loose passes, and Inter were very well organised.
City suffered in the first-half, and then fans watched as Kevin De Bruyne left the action injured.
The Belgian tried to soldier on with his knock, but it was the same fate for him as two years ago against Chelsea.
City finally made the breakthrough midway through the second-half, and it was a man who has always been there for City this season.
Rodri popped up to fire in from the edge of the box, after great work from Manuel Akanji and Bernardo Silva.
It was by no means City’s best performance. But that was never going to matter tonight.
A lot of City’s players struggled on the night. But there was one man who was arguably head and shoulders above everyone.
John Stones, who has been tremendous over the last few months and brilliant in last weekend’s FA Cup final, was absolutely sensation at the Ataturk Stadium.
He was so composed and protected the ball amazingly well.
He really stepped up after De Bruyne went off, and he is now being praised heavily on social media.
Former Premier League striker Stan Collymore said of the 28-year-old on Twitter: “John Stones has been exceptional. Finally the player he promised to be. Best player on the pitch by far and finding space with his radar tuned to find and exploit space. Same for England please.”
John Stones was absolutely sensational against Inter as Man City win Champions League final
This was truly an outstanding display from Stones.
City were not really at it tonight, and you could really see that some of the players were nervous.
But that could not be said of Stones, who was a colossus tonight. Joleon Lescott also said when Stones was being substituted off that he had been outstanding for months.
Without any doubt, he is one of the best players in the world.
