James McAtee was on the score sheet as Manchester City ended Tuesday night with an away win in Slovakia against Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Champions League.
İlkay Gündoğan, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland had already made sure that the 2021/22 champions were heading home with the three points so McAtee’s goal was a ceremonial one. However, the youngster is proud to have etched his name in the Champions League goal scorers’ charts and hopes he can do more in the competition.
“I’m buzzing,” declared McAtee, who lost got a second but for the heroics of Bratislava goalkeeper Dominik Takac. “I could have got another one like five minutes after.”
“I’m over the moon. I think this is what every kid dreams of, so it’s definitely a dream come true.”
McAtee, 21, spent the last two years on loan at Sheffield United and is now slowly integrating himself into the City culture and learning under Pep Guardiola. He spoke about his journey since making his professional debut in 2021 up to the point where he is scoring goals for City in the Champions League.
“It’s good to be back,” he said. “Obviously, it was a tough year last year for me personally. It’s good to be back and learning off the best players in the world in my opinion.”
Player of the match, Phil Foden, praised McAtee and other teammates who helped City to their first three points in the competition following their opening day draw with Inter Milan.
“I don’t think it was easy, I think it was tough to break them down. You have to give them respect,” he said. “Like I said, it was difficult to break them down and the atmosphere was unbelievable.”
“We did the job in the end and managed to find the space but it was difficult at times.”
“I had plenty more chances to score and a few other lads did too. On another night, it could have been more goals but we’re delighted with 4-0.”
“For myself it’s been a bit of a slow start to the season, so it’s nice to get back out there and score. I’m feeling okay now. Back at it.”
“I had a slow start to the season from the Euros, I’m slowly getting there now and getting back to it.”
“I’m very happy with the performance, I know there’s still things I can work on and get better, I’m still a little bit rusty. Like I said I’m happy with my performance and the team performance.”
