Manchester City 2-1 Sevilla

Kevin de Bruyne has scored five goals for Manchester City so far this season

Kevin de Bruyne's 91st-minute winner gave Manchester City a dramatic Champions League victory over Group D rivals Sevilla.

The Spanish side had taken a deserved lead when Vitolo's cross was turned in by the impressive Yevhen Konoplyanka.

City quickly equalised when Wilfried Bony's close-range shot was deflected home off Adil Rami after good work by Yaya Toure.

Sevilla's quick counter-attacks threatened more goals against a City side often caught wide open at the back.

But, for the second successive European game, Manuel Pellegrini's men snatched three vital points in the dying seconds.

Yaya Toure charged forward in stoppage time and fed De Bruyne, who cut in from the right to score his fifth goal in his last seven games for City and send them into second place in the group.

What does the win mean for City?

Pellegrini's side are a point behind leaders Juventus, who were held by Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday, and three points above Sevilla.

Two of City's last three group games are away, starting with the return at Sevilla in two week's time.

Before then they travel across town to take on Manchester United in Sunday's derby, where Pellegrini will be looking for a big improvement in his defence.

Defensive uncertainty

The first-half touchmaps of City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne (left) and left-back Bacary Sagna show how far they were pushing forward and leaving space at the back

City had won their previous two home games 6-1 and 5-1, but not without looking wide open at the back at times in both matches, and that vulnerability continued here.

The difference was that City were playing Sevilla, not Newcastle or Bournemouth, and last season's Europa League winners consistently threatened whenever they came forward.

The continuing absence of captain Vincent Kompany - who was again on the bench for his club despite being considered fit enough to start for Belgium at the start of the month - is an obvious factor.

City have not kept a clean sheet without him in their last seven games this season, and Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi - with a combined cost of more than £70m - again failed to convince with their marking, positional sense or tackling ability.

It was City's full-backs who struggled the most, however, with Pablo Zabaleta and Bacary Sagna, who started out of position at left-back, particularly exposed.

Some of that was down to City's 4-4-2 formation, which saw De Bruyne and Jesus Navas tearing up the wings.

That just made it more puzzling why Zabaleta and Sagna looked to join them so often, leaving gaping holes behind them that Sevilla exploited.

Attack needs work too

Considering Pellegrini had described it as "must-win" game before kick-off, City did not look much like winning it until De Bruyne struck on the break to pay back a little more of his £54m fee.

City's attack had been fluid throughout, with Raheem Sterling starting up alongside Bony but often dropping deep and switching with De Bruyne, who operated mostly on the left.

While they created plenty of chances early on, they were far less of a threat in the second half and their lack of striking options were clear in the final 15 minutes when Bony was replaced by Fernando, leaving Toure to lead the line.

Most strikers would look poor in comparison with Sergio Aguero but Bony is a Champions League novice and the signs are he has much to learn at this level.

The £28m Ivorian is still awaiting his first Champions League goal, although he obviously played a big part in City's equaliser.

But too often he was not on the same wavelength as his team-mates, noticeably when he failed to anticipate a Sterling through-ball in the second half.

It was down to De Bruyne to save the day, but City's lack of cutting edge was a worrying sign for Pellegrini before his side's trip to Old Trafford.

Man of the match - Yevhen Konoplyanka

Yevhen Konoplyanka had a passing accuracy of 95.8% against Manchester City

Yevhen Konoplyanka almost became a Liverpool player in January 2014 and on this evidence the Reds missed out on a player who would have given them the width they have lacked so much of late.

The Ukraine winger turned Pablo Zabaleta inside out down City's right flank and, as well as his goal, he was unlucky to hit the post when his clever free-kick caught Joe Hart unaware.

The stats you need to know

• Manchester City have won two Champions League home games after conceding the first goal (W2 D4 L4) - both have ended 2-1 with their winning goal coming in the final minute and against a Spanish club.

• Konoplyanka has scored on both visits to England in European competitions (Manchester City, Tottenham).

• Sevilla have never won an away game against an English side in European competitions (D2 L2).

• De Bruyne scored his first Champions League goal in what was his 10th appearance in the competition.

Pundit analysis:

BBC Radio 5 live's Pat Nevin: "This is a brilliant result against a really good side. Manchester City got very, very lucky until about 60 minutes but after that I could see tiredness coming for Sevilla. Manuel Pellegrini made some changes, and they were very intelligent changes. They worked, Manchester City won and they are 100% in the driving seat for getting through now."

What next?

Manchester City just have the small issue of a derby against rivals Manchester United on Sunday.