Manchester City 3-0 Young Boys: Erling Haaland scores twice as City reach Champions League knockouts

August 2024 · 6 minute read

Erling Haaland took his Champions League goal tally to 39 in 34 games as Manchester City cruised into the last 16 with two games to spare by barely breaking sweat against Young Boys.

The Norwegian striker shrugged off the ankle injury that forced him off at half-time in Saturday's hammering of Bournemouth to clinically convert a 23rd-minute penalty after Sandro Lauper had fouled Matheus Nunes.

He then smashed home a second from the edge of the area six minutes after the restart, shortly before Lauper was sent off for a second booking following a foul on Nathan Ake.

In a bizarre exchange, Haaland had already handed his shirt over to Young Boys skipper Mohamed Ali Camara at the break when the Guinean asked for it as the players made their way to the tunnel.

By that point Phil Foden had added a second, finding the net after ollecting Jack Grealish's superb curling pass to the side of the penalty area and skipping past Ulisses Garcia.

The result sends City into the knockout phase for an impressive 11th consecutive season, and also means they have set a new record of 18 matches unbeaten in Europe for an English club.

The win also extended their run of home victories in all competitions in 2023 to 23 games, one short of the English record, set by Sunderland across 1891 and 1892.

Rivals Liverpool are the next visitors to this stadium, in the Premier League on 25 November. That game will almost certainly be far more competitive than this one was.

Haaland closes in on Champions League record

As for City, they march on, knowing far greater tests lie ahead as they look to emulate their historic Treble success. On this form they will be confident enough of beating anyone.

After an unscheduled early exit at the weekend, Haaland's selectionin the starting line-up was a surprise, even though Guardiola had said on the eve of the game that he would have no problem picking the Norwegian if the City medical staff declared him fit.

The determination with which Haaland tore into the Young Boys defence from the first whistle was impressive.

Visiting keeper Anthony Racioppi denied the 23-year-old in the opening stages when he tried to turn home a low shot from an acute angle.

There was never a doubt he would score with the penalty, which he drove home with the assuredness of aplayer oozing self-confidence.

Even Guardiola celebrated his impressive second, and while the City manager subbed off his start striker soon afterwards, Haaland now needs just one more goal in any of his next 10 Champions League outings to surpass Ruud van Nistelrooy's record of scoring 40 in just 45 appearances.

Not that absolutely everything went right for Haaland, though. When skipper Kyle Walker, only playing because Manuel Akanji was injured in the warm-up, sent a low cross to the far post, Haaland couldn't get his feet in the right position to convert was seemed a relatively simple chance.

Guardiola evidently thought so as he dropped his head in disappointment.

Young Boys' colourful fans light up drab evening for Swiss side

By far the most entertaining aspect of this game, from a Young Boys perspective at least, was the atmosphere created by their supporters.

The fans in the lower two tiers choreographed their entrance just before kick-off, so those in the higher section came in first, all wearing what appeared to be matching yellow ponchos. Then came those in the lower tier, wearing black, to match their team's colours.

Part way through the opening period, they all turned their back on the game, before taking the ponchos off and twirling them round their heads. Those on the top followed that by throwing them down on those below.

The display was colourful and inventive, which is more than could be said for their team.

Player of the match

HaalandErling Haaland

with an average of 8.54

Manchester City

  • Squad number9Player nameHaalandAverage rating

    8.54

  • Squad number47Player nameFodenAverage rating

    8.53

  • Squad number3Player nameRúben DiasAverage rating

    8.16

  • Squad number5Player nameStonesAverage rating

    8.13

  • Squad number10Player nameGrealishAverage rating

    8.03

  • Squad number11Player nameDokuAverage rating

    7.97

  • Squad number31Player nameEdersonAverage rating

    7.81

  • Squad number2Player nameWalkerAverage rating

    7.80

  • Squad number6Player nameAkéAverage rating

    7.78

  • Squad number24Player nameGvardiolAverage rating

    7.74

  • Squad number82Player nameLewisAverage rating

    7.59

  • Squad number8Player nameKovacicAverage rating

    7.55

  • Squad number52Player nameBobbAverage rating

    7.53

  • Squad number4Player namePhillipsAverage rating

    7.36

  • Squad number27Player nameMatheus NunesAverage rating

    6.97

    • Young Boys

  • Squad number1Player nameRacioppi

    Average rating

    4.63

  • Squad number15Player nameElia

    Average rating

    4.39

  • Squad number9Player nameItten

    Average rating

    4.29

  • Squad number21Player nameGarcia

    Average rating

    4.27

  • Squad number23Player nameBenito

    Average rating

    4.24

  • Squad number20Player nameNiasse

    Average rating

    4.21

  • Squad number4Player nameAmenda

    Average rating

    4.16

  • Squad number7Player nameUgrinic

    Average rating

    4.15

  • Squad number17Player nameJanko

    Average rating

    4.15

  • Squad number39Player nameMales

    Average rating

    4.00

  • Squad number30Player nameLauper

    Average rating

    3.97

  • Squad number13Player nameCamara

    Average rating

    3.96

  • Squad number14Player nameChaiwa

    Average rating

    3.81

  • Squad number35Player nameGanvoula

    Average rating

    3.62

  • Squad number19Player namePersson

    Average rating

    3.31

  • Squad number27Player nameBlum

    Average rating

    3.25

    • Line-ups

    Man City

    Formation 3-2-4-1

    31Ederson

    2Walker3Rúben Dias24Gvardiol

    82Lewis5Stones

    47Foden27Nunes8Kovacic10Grealish

    9Haaland

    Substitutes

    Young Boys

    Formation 5-4-1

    1Racioppi

    17Janko4Amenda13Camara23Benito21Garcia

    15Elia20Niasse30Lauper7Ugrinic

    9Itten

    Substitutes

    Referee:Erik Lambrechts

    Attendance:51,049

    Match Stats

    Live Text

  • Match ends, Manchester City 3, Young Boys 0.

  • Second Half ends, Manchester City 3, Young Boys 0.

  • Attempt blocked. Phil Foden (Manchester City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jack Grealish.

  • Attempt missed. Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left following a corner.

  • Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Cheikh Niasse.

  • Substitution, Young Boys. Darian Males replaces Filip Ugrinic.

  • Offside, Manchester City. Matheus Nunes tries a through ball, but Oscar Bobb is caught offside.

  • Attempt missed. Matheus Nunes (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Jack Grealish.

  • Attempt saved. Jérémy Doku (Manchester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jack Grealish.

  • Attempt missed. Matheus Nunes (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box misses to the right. Assisted by Jack Grealish following a fast break.

  • Attempt missed. Jack Grealish (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jérémy Doku following a fast break.

  • Attempt missed. Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Oscar Bobb with a cross following a corner.

  • Substitution, Manchester City. Jérémy Doku replaces Mateo Kovacic.

  • Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Mohamed Ali Camara.

  • Matheus Nunes (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  • Foul by Cheikh Niasse (Young Boys).

  • Substitution, Young Boys. Silvere Ganvoula replaces Meschack Elia.

  • Substitution, Young Boys. Noah Persson replaces Ulisses Garcia.

  • Aurèle Amenda (Young Boys) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  • Jack Grealish (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

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