City's chances ran well ahead of the usual level in a 5-1 win

Manchester City's win over AEK Athens at the Etihad rested on chances well above the norm, and the shot and expected goals figures show it more clearly than the scoreline does.

Six goals at the Etihad is more than this competition usually sees in a single game, where the average is 3.57. The scoreline is the easy part of the story, though. The more revealing figures sit underneath it, in how often City created good chances and how rarely AEK Athens did.

Manchester City had 17 shots, where the typical side in this competition manages 14.59, and 7 of them were on target. Their expected goals figure, a rough score that values each chance by how often similar chances go in, came to 2.92. The average side in this competition finishes a match on 1.75, so City's chances were better than usual by a clear margin.

Possession followed the same pattern. City held 64% of the ball and completed 631 of their 676 passes, which means the play ran through their players for most of the evening. AEK Athens had 36%, below their own away average of 47.25% across four matches this season.

The goals came in a steady flow. Elliot Anderson opened the scoring in the 12th minute, Phil Foden scored in the 34th, Rayan Cherki in the 57th, and Foden again in the 65th and 76th minutes, which gave him a hat-trick. Stavros Pilios replied for AEK in the 52nd minute. Rico Lewis supplied two assists, and Foden's rating of 9.58 was the best of any player on the pitch.

AEK's attacking numbers were below their usual level. They had 11 shots, against an away average of 14.75, and their expected goals came to 0.77 compared with the 1.12 they usually record away. They scored once, against an away average of 1.5 goals per match. Defensively the picture reversed, since they conceded 5 goals when their away average is 0.75, and City's expected goals of 2.92 sat well above the 1.39 they usually concede away.

Within that team, L. Majer had the most individual duels won of any AEK player, with nine, and was rated 6.81 for his evening's work. Kervin Arriaga, who came on in the 83rd minute, added four more. Those are small counts in a game of this shape, but they show where AEK's effort went once the score was beyond reach.

Both sides now have three points from two games, with City sitting 18th and AEK Athens 20th in the table. City's last six matches include one defeat, and AEK's last six away matches include one defeat and one draw.

Player of the matchP. Foden3 goals · 1 assist9.6

R. Lewis2 assists8.6

E. Anderson1 goal8.2

R. Cherki1 goal8.2