The forward came off the bench and inspired the 2023 winners to a comeback victory which clinched a playoff place
A fire broke out at the Etihad Stadium before their do-or-die match with Club Brugge and it looked a sign of things to come as Manchester City's Champions League dreams appeared to be going up in smoke when they went in 1-0 down at half-time.
But Savinho came off the bench armed with a hose and a ladder and doused the flames to give Pep Guardiola's side a 3-1 victory which averted a disastrous early elimination and sealed their passage to the play-offs. The bad news? They will face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the next round.
Most City fans would have written this game off as a certain dead-rubber when the fixtures for the expanded competition were released in September but instead they faced what Pep Guardiola and Josko Gvardiol both described as "a final". Their task, after a horrendous League Phase campaign in which they had won just two of their seven games, was simple: victory would take them into the play-offs but anything less would mean failing to reach the knockout stage for the first time in 12 years.
They faced a Brugge side who had not lost for 20 games in all competitions and who only needed a draw to progress to the play-offs. The Belgians let City dictate the pace of the game and tried to pick their hosts off on the counter. Gvardiol blocked an early strike from Chemsdine Talbi after a breakaway move but Brugge countered again just before half-time, when Ferran Jutgla surged forward, sent Matheus Nunes back to Rio de Janeiro and teed up Raphael Onyedika to blast first-time past Ederson.
Guardiola, facing his earliest ever elimination from the competition he has won three times, was ruthless at the break and threw on Savinho for the lumbering Ilkay Gundogan. The winger injected some much-needed pace and flair into City and he helped fashion two good chances before Mateo Kovacic bounded through the middle of the pitch unopposed and fired into the bottom corner to equalise in the 53rd minute.
City needed one more goal to make it through and after a coupe of heart-in-mouth moments they found it – Savinho playing in Gvardiol whose cross was turned into the net by the hapless Brugge defender Joel Ordonez. Savinho then fittingly made sure of City's victory by scoring their third in the 77th minute and although beaten, Brugge also snuck through into the play-offs, occupying the 24th spot.
GOAL rates Man City's players from the Etihad Stadium…
Getty Images SportGoalkeeper & Defence
Ederson (6/10):
Not loads he could do to stop Brugge's goal and compensated for his awful displays in the competition with a confident performance. Quick out of his area to snaffle the visitors' passes in behind and equal to most of their attempts.
Matheus Nunes (4/10):
His high positioning left him vulnerable to breakaways and he was left for dead by Jutgla for the goal.
John Stones (6/10):
Played a risky game playing so high up but was good on the ball. Missed a free header at the start of the second half.
Manuel Akanji (6/10):
Got in the way of a Jutgla shot and managed to bait Brugge's press with solid ball retention.
Josko Gvardiol (8/10):
A monstrous presence at both ends of the pitch. His block on Talbi saved a goal and then he set up City's second.
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Bernardo Silva (5/10):
Lacklustre in the first half, failing to trouble Brugge down the right. Improved when he moved inside in the second period.
Mateo Kovacic (7/10):
Pulled City back from the brink with his run through the middle and arrowed strike into the bottom corner, albeit aided by generous Brugge defending.
Ilkay Gundogan (4/10):
Lost the ball leading to Brugge's goal. Scored an offside goal before that but did little else and could have had few complaints when hooked at half-time for Savinho.
AFPAttack
Kevin De Bruyne (5/10):
Made some bad decisions in possession in the first half and should have done better with a good shooting opportunity in the second.
Erling Haaland (5/10):
Fired at Simon Mignolet with a golden opportunity but was kept too quiet for a game of such magnitude.
Phil Foden (6/10):
Had some decent moments and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions.
AFPSubs & Manager
Savinho (9/10):
Completely changed the game and City have him to thank for avoiding disaster.
Rico Lewis (N/A):
Stayed calm after replacing De Bruyne in the 81st minute and saw City through.
Pep Guardiola (7/10):
Took drastic action by throwing on Savinho at half-time and it was a masterstroke.
