Pep Guardiola’s men earned three solid points at the Wankdorf Stadium, courtesy of goals from Manuel Akanji and Erling Haaland (2).
Akanji and Haaland were the headline makers in Switzerland, along with UEFA Player of the Match Rico Lewis, but Onuoha focused on the strong performance of Rodrigo in the middle of the park.
“There were so many good performances, not least Rodri,” said Onuoha, who was a summariser in Bern as part of our Matchday Live team.
“He’s so good at football. He’s so good at football.
“The way he can control the tempo as and when he needs to. He was also the one who was fouled for the Haaland penalty. So at times he can be higher.
“He can also connect the game from deeper. He can link up the game.
“He can change the tempo. He leads people on, he doesn’t just pass to their feet, he plays them into space.
“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen wearing a Manchester City shirt. Today was another example of that.”
Keith Curle and Paul Dickov, meanwhile, who were back in the studio to analyse the Champions League Group G game, spoke positively about the performance of Julian Alvarez in the latest victory.
Alvarez, who has started the 2023/24 campaign encouragingly with seven goals so far this term, looked dangerous when he came on with 18 minutes remaining.
In fact, he thought he had added to his tally for the season just two minutes after entering the fray but his cool finish was scrubbed off following a VAR check for a handball against Jack Grealish.
Curle and Dickov were, nevertheless, impressed with the Argentine ace.
“Unbelievable. Phenomenal,” said Curle post-match.
“That natural position of playing off Haaland. He looks a threat when he gets the ball.
“He’s got a good understanding of where other players are around him and he’s a goal threat.
“He’s not an advanced midfield player. He’s a goalscorer playing off the front line which gives him more freedom to go and find areas where he’s going to go and get his shot off.”
“I thought when Alvarez came on, he was brilliant,” added Dickov.
“He picked the ball up in that little No.10 hole four or five times in the 18 minutes that he was on.
“It was a great finish for his goal. I’m still not having that that was a handball.”
