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In recent years, Manchester City typically begins to focus on the Champions League once it reaches the quarter-finals. The team, which is the reigning champion, easily progressed to the last eight for the seventh year in a row. However, the competition will become more challenging from this point on. City’s tendency to win weaker groups and then face weaker opponents in the round of 16, delays the truly significant matches. FC Copenhagen was easily defeated, as expected, and manager Pep Guardiola gave rest to most of his key players before their upcoming match against Liverpool. City’s upcoming Premier League matches will also become more difficult, as the easier portion of their season comes to an end.
This had the feel of a formality. Copenhagen had helped eliminate one Manchester club from Europe. There was no danger of a second, and not merely because City brought a 3-1 lead back from Denmark. A rematch was over inside 10 minutes, a swift double serving as an indictment of Manchester United, who had found it rather harder against the Danish champions. In contrast, City now have 10 consecutive Champions League victories and a 30-game unbeaten run at home in Europe, with the added distinction that only two were even draws.
When it comes to large and remarkable statistics, Erling Haaland is often mentioned. Scoring a goal against the team that once had him on trial as a young player – and has likely regretted not signing him since – brought his tally in the Champions League to 41 at just 23 years old. This equals the total number of goals scored by Manchester City’s top scorer Sergio Aguero and puts him on par with Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane as the leading scorer in this year’s tournament.
Manuel Akanji scored a volley to give City the lead and they went on to comfortably win the game.
The information is from the Agence France-Presse through Getty Images.
During his third game of the campaign, Haaland scored his 29th goal across all competitions. He expertly received a long pass from Rodri, displayed skillful footwork, and fired a precise shot into the near post. Unfortunately for him, goalkeeper Kamil Grabara made a mistake by diving the wrong way, adding to his already embarrassing performance.
The surprise, perhaps, was that Haaland stayed on for 88 minutes, even if he spent much of the second half simply standing in attack. Rodri was only risked for 45 minutes while Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, John Stones, Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker were left out ahead of the trip to Anfield. Stones got a runout when Ruben Dias came off. It meant maybe only Ederson of Guardiola’s strongest side completed the game.
The loss of Matheus Nunes, dislocating a finger in freakish fashion, was the only downside to City’s night while Josko Gvardiol made his comeback from injury. Nunes had made a rare outing on the right with the ever-versatile Julian Alvarez crowbarred into the team on the left. Oscar Bobb started as a No 10 and then adopted a deeper role when Rodri went off. Guardiola has long been accused of overthinking things in Champions League knockout ties, though the motivation this time revolved around rest and rotation.
Julian Alvarez was fortunate to have scored a goal, but he excelled in his role as a playmaker.
The author of this text is Nick Potts, and it is from the PA Wire.
The shifting cast list meant that City, who have mustered 7-0 wins at this stage twice under Guardiola, were less likely to achieve a hat-trick. They nevertheless started at such a speed to suggest it was possible.
Copenhagen struggled to handle Alvarez’s corner kicks, but they are not expected to cause any trouble for Liverpool once De Bruyne resumes taking them. The starting players worked together to secure a goal for City, with Manuel Akanji beautifully volleying in Alvarez’s corner kick.
A second goal was scored by Alvarez after another set-piece play. Rodri’s header hit the bar from his corner kick, and Copenhagen was unsuccessful in clearing the ball. When Alvarez took a shot from a difficult angle, Grabara was unable to catch or block it, causing the ball to wiggle into the goal. Despite his mask hiding any humiliation, this was not the only mistake made by the goalkeeper.
Mohamed Elyounoussi scored a goal for consolation, but Copenhagen did not pose a significant threat to City during the game.
Reword: In their second appearance in the knockout stages of the Champions League, the visiting fans were able to find some joy in a well-executed consolation goal. The first Norwegian to score was Mohamed Elyounoussi, not Haaland. With an impressive display of teamwork, the former Southampton player received a backheel pass from Iceland’s Orri Oskarsson, allowing him to run from midfield and ultimately slide a shot past Ederson. However, there is no guarantee that they will ever reach this stage again.
In the second half, Copenhagen showed strong determination. Towards the end, Rico Lewis almost scored with a deflected shot that hit the bar, and Ederson had previously saved a shot from Magnus Mattsson. There were glimpses that they could potentially score another goal as they were the more dominant team and showed great determination after halftime. The majority of the cheering came from their lively supporters. On the other hand, City conserved their energy and their players for the important upcoming games that could shape their season.
Source: independent.co.uk
