SWITZERLAND: Manchester City secured their place in the Champions League knockout stage with a 3-1 victory over Swiss team Young Boys, ending Erling Haaland’s goal drought and Manuel Akanji’s return to his homeland. Despite concerns about the rain-soaked Wankdorf Stadium, the team managed three victories.
Guardiola expressed satisfaction with the game and believes City needs to win two more games to finish first and one more to qualify mathematically. City will face Young Boys on November 7 for the knockout stage at their home. In the 67th minute, Haaland scored a penalty kick, making it his first goal in six Champions League games.
City’s Haaland scored a second goal in the 86th minute, breaking Kylian Mbappe’s record and becoming the youngest player to score 37 goals in the Champions League. The 23-year-old Norwegian attacker scored in 33 appearances.
City missed several chances in the first half, but Akanji broke the tie with a powerful header from Ruben Dias. Young Boys’ Messhack Elia then scored a brilliant pass, but City’s custodian Ederson faced a difficult situation. The match ended with Akanji securing a 2-1 victory.
In a thrilling match between Young Boys and City, City faced numerous near-misses in the first half, including a curling attempt by Jack Grealish. Matheus Nunes managed to bundle the ball towards the goal, but Loris Benito saved it on the line.
Despite the challenges, the forwards took their chances, and City won the game. However, Julian Alvarez’s goal was disallowed after VAR determined Grealish had handled the ball during the build-up.
After three games, Young Boys are tied for third place in the group with Red Star Belgrade with one point. RB Leipzig, which is second in the table with six points, defeated Red Star 3-1 on Wednesday.
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