Haaland’s brace helps City secure win at Young Boys

• Manchester City maintained their perfect UEFA Champions League record with a hard-fought win at Young Boys
• Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in the last 16 Champions League matches, winning ten and drawing six

Manchester City maintained their perfect UEFA Champions League record with a hard-fought win at Young Boys. Erling Haaland scored twice in the second half as the Premier League giants beat Young Boys 3-1. City’s phenomenal record in Champions League group stage games stretched to 24 wins in 32 games.

Manuel Akanji opened the scoring for Manchester City shortly after the break but Meschak Elia equalized immediately. Haaland scored a penalty in the 67th minute before sealing the win with four remaining minutes.

City continued their impressive run in the Champions League with victory over Young Boys. Photo/ Bitter and Blue.

Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in the last 16 Champions League matches, winning ten and drawing six. Only Manchester United between 2007 and 2009 have a longer run without defeat in the competition. City remain top of Group G with nine points from three matches.

The victory means City need one win from their remaining three Champions League fixtures to qualify for the knockout stages. Speaking after the win at Young Boys, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said he was really pleased by his side’s performance.

“It was an exceptional game. Our positional game was really, really, really, really good. In the first half, we lacked, due to the physicality of them, being aggressive in the one-v-ones and Mateo (Kovacic) was a bit away from the position where he should be. In the second half, Mateo helped us to win the game. But in general, all of them were exceptional so I’m really really pleased for the way we played.” Pep Guardiola told TNT Sports, as per Sky Sports.

Young Boys have a history of frustrating Manchester teams, with their most recent home victory against Premier League opposition saw them beat Manchester United 2-1 during the 2021-22 season. For Manchester City, this game was about getting out of Wankdorf Stadium with their 100% group record.

Pep Guardiola made six changes to his starting XI from Saturday’s 2-1 win over Brighton, including the return of Jack Grealish. The England international has struggled for game time since recovering from a dead leg last month.

Kyle Walker was rested for just the second time this season, with Rico Lewis starting instead. Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Ederson were also included in the squad, replacing Josko Gvardiol, John Stones and Stefan Ortega, respectively.

After a goalless first half, Manuel Akanji gave the visitors the lead in the 48th minute by tapping into an empty net after Ruben Dias’ initial header crashed back off the crossbar. But Young Boys responded immediately, thanks to Meshack Elia’s sumptuous lob.

It was always likely to be difficult for City but the hosts shot themselves in the foot when Mohamed Ali fouled Camara in the box. Haaland made no mistake from the penalty spot to give City a 2-1 lead. Julian Alvarez thought he had given City a two-goal advantage in the 74th minute but the goal was ruled out for handball on Jack Grealish.

Haaland scored his second of the night in the 86th minute to ensure Manchester City had secured a comfortable win at Young Boys.

Erling Haaland. Photo/ Breaking News.