Man City 2-0 Galatasary: City breeze past Galatasary into Champions League last 16 | OneFootball

Manchester City booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League courtesy of a comfortable 2-0 win over Galatasaray at the Etihad Stadium.

Goals from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki were enough to clinch an eighth-place finish and bounce back from last week’s shock defeat in to Bodø/Glimt Norway.

The Süper Lig leaders finished 20th to qualify for the playoffs regardless, one point above three sides missing out on the top 24.

As it happened

City should have been ahead inside three minutes as Rayan Aït-Nouri delivered a pinpoint cross from the left into Haaland, unmarked from eight yards, yet the Norwegian headed wide of the target.

The miss did not unsettle the hosts and Haaland soon made amends.

Jeremy Doku burst through the Galatasaray back line and slid a perfectly weighted through ball into the Norwegian’s path, allowing him to lift his finish over Ugurcan Çakir in the Galatasary net to open the scoring.

City continued to dominate and went close again when Nico O’Reilly unleashed a ferocious strike from the edge of the box, forcing a strong save from Çakir.

The hosts eventually did get the second that their pressure deserved just before the half hour mark.

More excellent work from Doku down the left ended with the winger pulling the ball back for Cherki, who calmly placed his finish into the bottom corner to double Man City’s lead.

First-half substitute Phil Foden should have made it three before the break after another dangerous Ait Nouri delivery, but the England international blazed over from inside the box.

Galatasaray improved after the break, pressing higher and creating a few openings as they tried to cut the deficit, while City remained a constant threat on the counter attack.

This nearly showed after Haaland used his strength superbly to hold the ball up and release Omar Marmoush, but the forward could only fire straight at the goalkeeper.

Victor Osimhen then had Galatasaray’s only real chance to score on the night, as he fired a powerful volley towards the goal only for it to be well-parried by Gianluigi Donnarumma to preserve City’s clean sheet.

Despite continuing to waste openings during the transition, City were never truly threatened and comfortably saw out the closing stages to secure the result they needed.

The victory confirms Man City’s place in the top eight, reducing their number of fixtures in an already congested calendar.

Guardiola’s side now turn their attention back to the Premier League, with a trip to Tottenham on Sunday as they continue to chase Arsenal at the top.

Galatasaray finish 20th in the league phase and will now face a play-off tie as they look to keep their European campaign alive.

Analysis: Doku proves key in sparing City the play offs

Going into the game, City knew they had to win to stand any chance of finishing inside the elusive top eight. The two goals in the first half provided huge relief, allowing Pep Guardiola’s side to avoid the dreaded play-offs, the stage in which they crashed out of the competition last year.

The hosts started with real energy and purpose, which saw Haaland both miss and then convert big chances early on. The Norweigan’s opener, his first open play goal this year, set City on their way. Cherki followed in his striker’s footsteps as he doubled the lead soon after, making it a comfortable evening for his side.

They key component behind both two goals, however, was Jérémy Doku. The Belgian was a constant threat, with his dangerous ball carrying through central areas providing a real spark in Manchester City’s frontline.

By setting up both goals, Doku showed his improving end product and output to go alongside his already world-class dribbling ability.

The only dampner on City’s night would be the winger’s injury in the first half, after which a lot of their intensity and attacking threat. They will have their fingers crossed that it will not be a serious injury as they turn their focus back domestically.

Another positive for Guardiola will be how his side dealt with Victor Osimhen up front for Galatasary. The Nigerian striker was limited to only a couple of half chances, all of which were relatively comfortable for Donnarumma to deal with.

With the addition of Marc Guéhi and Rúben Dias set to return from injury soon, City will hope that they can build on this clean sheet as they prepare to mount a challenge to Arsenal for the Premier League title in the business end of the season.