Rico Lewis had threatened to do this against Bayern Munich on Manchester City’s tour in America a few months ago. There he jinked by three Bayern defenders at lightning pace, only to thunder into the near post.

It had everyone inside Green Bay’s Lambeau Field asking quite who this explosive 17-year-old was. After last night, City’s supporters are certainly well aware of him.

A proper right back, Lewis was ready to make his mark in the final third all evening. He waited to make his run as Julian Alvarez’s persistent turned over possession and off he went, Alvarez slipping the defender in. Just as in America, Lewis went for the near post. This time a swish rather than a dink.

Manchester City beat Sevilla 3-1 in their Champions League clash on Wednesday evening 

Gobsmacked, he held a hand over his mouth. What a wonderful moment his 52nd minute equaliser was for him and the club’s academy. Lewis has been in their system since he was seven and his full professional debut was certainly one to remember.

Phil Foden was one of the first to congratulate him, and that felt somewhat significant given Lewis is only about 170 days older than Foden was when he made his first start. Things have turned out all right for him since. 

The statistics kept on coming. He became the youngest player to score on their Champions League debut, breaking a record previously held by Karim Benzema, and is only the fifth Englishman to play in the competition before turning 18, joining Foden, Jude Bellingham, Jack Wilshere and Josh McEachran.

With Lewis, at least Pep Guardiola’s engineered some interest into a game that looked unappealing beforehand. Sevilla did too, in fairness, going ahead through Rafa Mir, only for Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez to complete City’s comeback later on.

City had to be mindful early on given the treacherous conditions, a greasy surface presenting some trepidation from the touchline each time a ball rolled loose. Ruben Dias was the first to suffer inside 30 seconds, giving cheap possession away which resulted in Rafa Mir scooping over Stefan Ortega’s bar. The German goalkeeper, making his home debut, then stopped smartly when Mir outpaced Sergio Gomez.

Mir, who did not manage a single goal during spells at Wolves and Nottingham Forest in the Championship, did finally score — gift wrapped by the hosts. Gomez and Dias got nowhere an Isco cross allowing Mir to plant a free header into Ortega’s far corner just after the half-hour.

City had dominated much of the game, as expected for a team which had won the last 13 at home and scored 54 times in the process. Ortega’s nice tribute to Ederson, charging out of his box to chest down and play straight into midfield — blissfully ignorant of any nearby Sevilla attacker — started a move that saw Foden go close.

This felt like an occasion designed to breathe life into Mahrez’s season, the highlight of which so far appears to have been an overly competitive game of table tennis with Rodri in Dortmund last week, caught by the club’s social media cameras. He missed a penalty there, missed a penalty in Copenhagen too, and was barely involved here before the break.

His inclusion meant Cole Palmer operated in an unfamiliar central midfield berth. Foden enjoys that role more than Palmer and was City’s brightest spark. His clever work found Ilkay Gundogan, thwarted by a brave block. There were also signs that Foden and Jack Grealish situated closer together in this system could become profitable.

Lewis had fizzed a long range shot wide but was not to be undone seven minutes after the restart. No chance he was missing and that goal turned the tide of a game City seemed intent on not given up lightly.

Alvarez notched the second with 17 minutes remaining and deserved to do so too. It owed so much to substitute Kevin De Bruyne, whose sumptuous pass, in an alley Sevilla’s defenders simply could not guard, found Alvarez. And then he showed composure, skipping beyond Yassine Bounou and clipping into the roof of the net.

Finally, Guardiola had his Mahrez moment, the Algerian adding a third. Alvarez’s tenacious pressing carved the chance, Mahrez passing home.

More to follow... 

Relive the action through Sportsmail's live blog for the Champions League group stage clash between Manchester City and Sevilla.