Manchester City had an almost perfect evening against Slovan Bratislava

Manchester City defeated Slovan Bratislava 4-0 last night to secure their first win in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League this season. Pep Guardiola's team pushed past the Slovakian champions with a dominant performance. Before the game, City had to fulfill several criteria in the 90 minutes. When the final whistle blew, the world champions had done everything right as they had almost the perfect evening against Bratislava.

When the starting lineups for last night's game were announced, there was hope that Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden would return to their best form. Both had a slow start to this season for different reasons. But after just 15 minutes it became clear that the duo was back to top form. Gündogan scored the first goal in the 8th minute with a deflected volley. Foden doubled City's lead in the 15th minute. What was noticeable in their performances, however, was that the rhythm with which they both played best had returned. This is positive for Manchester City in the future.

Another positive sign was that the City defense kept a clean sheet. In fact, City's back four of Rico Lewis, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Josko Gvardiol were rarely threatened. Slovan Bratislava did pose one or two threats on the counterattack, but otherwise City defended well most of the time. The world champion can also take that away from last night's game.

Another positive for Manchester City was that none of the players were injured last night. In addition to Oscar Bobb and Nathan Ake, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri have also been on the injury list in recent weeks. But the world champions came through last night's game unscathed, which is another plus point.

READ MORE: James McAtee showed he belongs at Manchester City last night.

After the game, Pep Guardiola was enthusiastic about his team's performance. He was also happy that his team played correctly and got through the game unscathed. Guardiola told the media: “You gotta do what you gotta do. It is a pleasure to be manager of this team. I love it, I love her. Getting here with that incredible respect and run and starting to 0-2 was easier because they were more open. After that they sat back, which is what has happened to most teams lately – 18 players in the penalty area, so it's not easy. But we created a lot of chances and I feel like little by little we are improving the way we attack them, but we still miss one or two actions. No injuries, players who haven't played recently had plenty of minutes, so a really good night. Just dinner and rest and our last game before the international break.”

Manchester City face Fulham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday in their final game before the international break. They will go into the game full of confidence after an almost flawless performance against Slovan Bratislava. That was what was so special about City's win in Slovakia last night.