Matchday Live guests excited by Reijnders and Rodri | OneFootball

Former City striker Shaun Goater is excited by the promise that new signing Tijjani Reijnders showed on his debut in the victory over Wydad AC.

The Dutch international made his first appearance since his move from Milan as we kicked off the FIFA Club World Cup with a 2-0 win in Philadelphia.

Reijnders was named Serie A’s Best Midfielder for the 2024/25 and Goater believes he showed some of the reasons why on his first outing.

Speaking as a guest on Matchday Live, he said that the 26-year-old showed plenty of facets to show he could excel in the role.

“I liked what I was seeing with him, in the first half in particular,” Goater told presenter Natalie Pike after the full-time whistle.

“He was deep, receiving balls from the centre-halves, and he passed two or three balls that broke lines, not only in the first phase but in the second.

“He was breaking two lines and I thought: ‘Okay, this is something to look forward to seeing him do’.

“Someone that can come a little bit deeper but he has that ability to go forward and get more involved further up the field as well.”

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Fellow guest Steph Houghton was also impressed by the first appearance from Reijnders and is looking forward to a potential midfield axis alongside Rodri.

The current Ballon d’Or holder was a second half substitute as he continues his comeback from the knee injury that ruled him out for the majority of the 2024/25 season.

Houghton said it will take a little time for Rodri to get back to his absolute best, but is thrilled to see the brilliant midfielder back on the pitch.

“Reijnders got pushed a little further forward [when Rodri came on] making those runs into the box,” the former City Women’s captain said.

“I think as City fans we want him to hit the heights of what he’s done over the last couple of years.

“But he’s been out for eight or nine months so it’s going to take him time to get back to that level and that’s why these games are important.

“Those last 30 minutes, there were probably a few wayward passes, but ultimately that’s just him finding his position again.

“Reijnders I was really impressed with. He showed a lot of good qualities that we might need over the season in terms of retention of the ball and forward runs, especially in the second half.”

Matchday Live will be back in the early hours of Monday for our next Group G game with Al Ain which kicks off at 02:00 (UK) on Monday 23 June.

Nedum Onuoha and Paul Dickov will join Natalie in the studio for the show which starts at around 01:00 (UK), before Alistair Mann and Andy Morrison provide radio commentary (for those with an active CITY+ subscription) during the action.