Premier League leaders Manchester City continued their run of terrific form and cruised to a comfortable 0-0 draw against Sporting on Wednesday after their thumping 5-0 win in the reverse fixture of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie.
City characteristically and expectedly dominated possession from the start but did not appear to be playing in top gear, most likely due to their comfortable cushion.
Regardless, Pep Guardiola’s men produced plenty of chances, with Fernandinho and Phil Foden coming close around the 25th minute.
City continued to dominate possession and a Foden ball found Raheem Sterling who forced a good save from Sporting goalkeeper Adan in the 39th minute.
The teams went into the tunnels level at half-time.
Early second-half substitutions by Guardiola almost had an immediate impact as City found the back of the net in the 47th minute, but the goal was disallowed due to offside.
City continued to keep hold of the ball and control the game, engineering a fair few chances along the way, but could not find the back of the net thanks to some organised and determined defending by the visitors.
As the game passed the 70 minute mark, Sporting grew into the game and looked threatening, but could not score despite their efforts.
Sporting continued to press in a bid to get a consolation goal and brought on several substitutions but could not break the City defence.
City, for their part, did not look content with a 0-0 draw, and tried creating chances to seal a victory. The hosts fashioned three chances in stoppage time but could not find the back of the net before the full-time whistle.
Although Pep Guardiola’s men did not score on the occasion, they did not need to thanks to their resounding victory in the first leg.
Manchester City now join the likes of Real Madrid, who stunned Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, as well as Liverpool and Bayern Munich, who have all qualified for the quarter-finals.
The remaining fixtures to determine the other four teams will take place next week.
