Manchester City vs. Gladbach: Score, Reaction to 2016 Champions League Match

In Pep Guardiola's final two seasons at Bayern Munich, he didn't manage to beat Borussia Monchengladbach once, losing twice and drawing twice with the German club. The new Manchester City manager didn't have that issue on Wednesday, however, as his club opened Group C play in the Champions League with an impressive 4-0 victory over Gladbach.

Sergio Aguero paced the home side with a hat-trick, while Kelechi Iheanacho added a goal in stoppage time to complete the rout.

WhoScored.com provided the stats from the dominant City win:

"

Man City 4-0 Gladbach FT: Shots (OT) 23(11)-3(1), Possession 56%-44%, Tackles 10-19, Rating 7.70-6.13 https://t.co/WEt4cXfIm7 #UCL

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 14, 2016"

It took just eight minutes for the Citizens to open the scoring.

Aleksandar Kolarov found space down the left and ripped a low cross to the near post, where Aguero was making his run. The Argentine sniper didn't miss, redirecting the ball into the net to give City the early advantage.

Just minutes later, City almost doubled their advantage, as Aguero played a deft pass in the box to Ilkay Gundogan, who had half the net wide open. His shot didn't veer wide enough, however, and Yann Sommer was able to make a brilliant diving save.

City would make it 2-0 in the 28th minute, however. After Christoph Kramer clipped Gundogan's heel in the box, taking him to the ground, Aguero stepped to the spot and calmly sent Sommer the wrong way to earn his brace.

It was a dominant first half for City and a solid showing from debutant Gundogan, per WhoScored.com:

The game slowed down for much of the second half for City, though the team missed several quality opportunities, as Jonathan Smith of ESPN FC noted:

Aguero solved that in the 77th minute, however. Raheem Sterling played a lovely through ball to the forward, who ran past a defender down the left and had only Sommer to beat. The South American deftly deked the 'keeper, feigning a shot on his right foot before pulling the ball back, rounding the Gladbach No. 1 and slotting home into the empty net for his hat-trick.

It was Aguero's second hat-trick of the young season for City, his ninth goal in five appearances and his second hat-trick in Champions League play during his City career, making him the first non-English player to accomplish that feat for an English club, per OptaJoe.

It was as impressive a display for Aguero as it was disappointing for Gladbach, however, as Stefan Bienkowski of DW Sports tweeted:

City would add one more for good measure in stoppage time, as Leroy Sane attracted two defenders on the touchline down the right side and found Iheanacho alone in the box. The young striker had only to hit the target with plenty of room to shoot; he didn't miss, giving City their fourth.

Guardiola's charges have responded favorably to their new manager. The team has won all seven of its Premier League and Champions League matches to open the season—making the Spaniard the first Premier League manager to accomplish that feat, per Squawka Football—outscoring their opponents in the process, 21-4.

Indeed, Cristian Nyari of FC Bayern Media has been impressed with City's play under Guardiola:

City will next face Celtic on Sept. 28.

Things won't get easier for Gladbach, meanwhile, as they have to face Barcelona that same day. All the Catalans did to open their Champions League campaign was annihilate Celtic, 7-0. If Wednesday's performance was any indication, the Germans will struggle mightily trying to contain Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.

Post-Match Reaction

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

After the contest, Guardiola was pleased with just about everything from the game, per Caroline Oatway of Manchester City's website:

"

I’m really happy. I’m so happy. I knew how difficult and important this game was. If we didn’t get points in the first game at home against Gladbach, it would make games against Barcelona and Celtic more difficult. 

Today was the most important game in the season. Considering the opponent and the pressure, we played really, really good—the players played at a high level.

I know perfectly Borussia. The coach always created a lot of problems for us when I was at Bayern. We dominated and we were so aggressive with and without the ball. It was difficult for them to control our build-up because of our movement between each other. 

It’s a good moment to enjoy our football with our fans. That is our future in the Champions League.

"

Meanwhile, Gundogan was happy with his showing in his first match of the season, per David Clayton of ManCity.com:

"

That was my first game for four months and I just tried to work hard, enjoy it and now we’re looking ahead to Bournemouth at the weekend. 

It’s been tough not playing and not having any real tests other than training and the odd friendly game so to last 80 minutes is very pleasing. 

I’m starting from zero now and looking forward to the weekend.

"

For Gladbach head coach Andre Schubert, meanwhile, the game was less pleasing:

Sommer was just as disappointed in the result:

Gladbach have the talent to recover and make a push in Group C. But with Barcelona looming and Manchester City looking like one of the best clubs in Europe to start the season, the German side will need to dramatically improve after a weak first showing.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.