Gabriel Jesus offers glimpse of what Man City always hoped he could be

For all the criticism that Raphael Varane has received for the two mistakes which effectively eliminated Real Madrid from the Champions League on Friday night, they did not happen in isolation. In fact, they shared a common denominator. Neither would have come about if not for the prodigiously talented but much-maligned Gabriel Jesus.

It was Jesus’ tireless high pressing that created Manchester City’s first goal of the evening for Raheem Sterling and the second which Jesus scored himself, finishing brilliantly around an onrushing Thibaut Courtois. On both occasions, he watched, patiently waited and then pounced to force Varane’s errors, turning nothing into something in the space of mere seconds.

And when all was said and done, Jesus needed a few seconds of his own. When the final whistle blew, he knelt down on his haunches and stared into the turf, contemplating the scale of City’s achievement in knocking out 13-time European Cup winners. It was a moment of deep reflection – meditation, almost – which only ended once he rose back to his feet and walked away shaking a clenched fist in satisfaction.

“I felt pride,” Jesus said, when asked what was going through his head at that moment. “Not just for the goal, obviously it’s important, but pride for the opportunity of achieving my dream of playing this competition for this big club.” Thoughts of Lisbon and a Champions League winners’ medal were not far from his mind. “We have to dream,” he added. “I’m a dreamer and can picture myself with the trophy in my hands.”

Pep Guardiola was delighted with his young centre-forward, who also scored City’s first goal and won the penalty for their second in their 2-1 first leg win at the Bernabeu back in February. “Big players have to show in the biggest stages in the big games and he showed it twice against the kings of this competition,” Guardiola said of Jesus. “He made an incredible step forward to say: ‘Here I am and I can win games for myself’.”

It has not always been that way for Jesus this season. Three-and-a-half years on from his arrival in Manchester, it is still debatable whether he is ready to replace Sergio Aguero once City’s all-time leading goalscorer calls it a day. His finishing is perhaps the greatest concern. Though not entirely deserved, City have earned a reputation for being wasteful in front of goal this season and Jesus has contributed hugely towards that perception.

Statistically, he is an elite attacking player. Jesus finished the season leading the Premier League in non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes (npxG), according to FBref. The same was true last season, even though he struggled for rhythm and regular playing time, and he had the fourth-highest npxG-per-90 in his first full Premier League campaign during the 2017-18 season.

What does this tell us? Simply that Jesus is excellent at getting into good goal-scoring positions. That’s the hardest part for any striker and, even though playing for a Guardiola team undoubtedly helps in that regard, he is still clearly very talented at popping up in space and shooting from favourable locations.

The problem is that Jesus too often spurns these golden opportunities. Despite his league-leading 17.7 npxG this season, he scored only 14 goals. The minus-3.7 difference is not just comparable to compatriot Roberto Firmino – who also suffered an underwhelming year in front of goal – but three goal-shy strikers who have become synonymous with wasteful finishing: Joelinton, Christian Benteke and David McGoldrick.

That is not the sort of company that the heir to Ronaldo Nazario wants to keep. Yet Jesus clearly has the potential to become a more talented centre-forward than the underlying numbers currently describe. Guardiola has said repeatedly that Jesus’ main responsibility is to score goals and that he must improve that area of his game, but also that he is not judged on goals alone.

Recalling the steal on Varane which led to Sterling’s goal, Guardiola said of Jesus: “He’s the best guy making these kinds of actions, for the aggression and intuition. I think Gabriel was the man of these two games. He scored in Madrid, he provoked the penalty and today made an assist and scored. He was so decisive for us.” There have not been many of those decisive displays during Jesus’ time in Manchester to date, but Friday offered hope of more to come.