NICK CUSHING was full of praise for Vivianne Miedema after seeing his gamble pay off with her scoring a brace in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

While City had Khadija Shaw and Aoba Fujino unavailable due to injury, interim boss Cushing opted to start with Miedema on the bench for the clash at the Academy Stadium.

Having subsequently been brought on for the start of the second half, the Netherlands international then put City in front on the hour mark, rifling in the rebound when Hannah Hampton tipped Laia Aleixandri’s header against the crossbar, and added a second finish with two minutes of normal time remaining.