Erling Haaland brushed off injury concerns to secure Manchester City’s place in the Champions League last 16 as he scored twice in a 3-0 win over Young Boys at the Etihad.
Haaland recovered after twisting his ankle in Saturday’s 6-1 thrashing of Bournemouth in the Premier League and opened the scoring for last season’s treble winners from the penalty spot after 23 minutes.
Phil Foden doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time after a graceful run before Haaland struck from 25 yards six minutes into the second period to seal City’s fourth victory from four in their Champions League defence.
City’s win was sealed when the Swiss side’s midfielder Sandro Lauper was sent off for a second bookable offence swiftly after the third goal. Pep Guardiola’s side are top of Group G and can confirm that position with a point against RB Leipzig in their next Champions League game.
Injuries to John Stones and Manuel Akanji were the only negatives on an otherwise perfect evening for City. Guardiola told TNT Sports after the game that Stones, who was taken off at half-time, would be out “for a while”.
The build-up to Tuesday’s game was dominated by the fitness of Haaland. But the striker was deemed healthy enough to start in an early blow to Young Boys, who were going in search of their first win on English soil.
City, who are now unbeaten in their last 28 Champions League matches at the Etihad, bossed the game from the off and should have taken the lead six minutes in through 18-year-old Rico Lewis. His tame effort was blocked on the line by defender Loris Benito.
SkySports
