Manchester City put aside their recent Premier League setback, delivering a comfortable performance in a 3-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League Group C on Wednesday. Pep Guardiola's side, beaten by Norwich City on Saturday, brought in their Brazilian former Shakhtar midfielder Fernandinho as a makeshift central defender to replace the injured John Stones. But there was to be no real test of City's back line as the English champions dominated, taking the lead in the 24th minute through Riyad Mahrez, who slotted home after Ilkay Gundogan's shot came out off the post. Shakhtar quickly had a chance to go level after a superb run from Taison who found Junior Moraes but his tame shot was well dealt with by Ederson. City doubled their lead in the 38th minute with Mahrez finding Gundogan at the end of a trademark City passing move and the German clipped home to make it 2-0. The Ukrainian side struggled to break up City's possession play in midfield and while there was a relaxed tempo from Guardiola's side, the outcome was never in doubt. Gabriel Jesus made it three in the 76th minute after Kevin De Bruyne led a swift counter-attack and slipped in the Brazilian who made no mistake. There was some good news on the injury front for City with French left-back Benjamin Mendy coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute, for his first appearance since April. Meanwhile, Fernandinho has the personality and experience to solve their injury crisis in defense, Guardiola said. The Brazilian was deployed as a makeshift central defender in Wednesday's 3-0 Champions League win at Shakhtar Donetsk, with John Stones out for five weeks due to a muscle injury and Aymeric Laporte recovering from knee surgery. Partnering City's only other fit senior centre back Nicolas Otamendi, the 34-year-old Fernandinho looked comfortable in the role with the additional responsibility of captaincy in his first start of the season. "I didn't have doubts that he would (look comfortable in the back four). That's why he's so important for us," Guardiola told a news conference. "We don't have many choices... he's the only one I have. Other players can play in that position but Fernandinho is a clever player, so intelligent — an incredible guy. "He has a lot of experience and personality and what he says the people follow him in the locker room so it's important." A tough tackler with natural passing ability, Fernandinho is the ideal player to slot into defense in Guardiola's system and has emerged as a potential replacement for former club captain Vincent Kompany who departed at the end of last season. The Brazilian is unlikely to get any quicker in the twilight of his career and is aware that a redefined role could ensure more playing time at the Premier League champions. "I've been training in this position since the start of the season," said Fernandinho, who made two interceptions and had a passing accuracy of 90% against Shakhtar. "Today was my opportunity, I hope I can improve. It was a quiet night at the back but the team have made a very good game... because we played as a team."— Reuters
