Sports
Man City 2 – 0 Galatasaray
Erling Haaland ended his five-game goal drought as Manchester City booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a simple 2-0 win over Galatasaray.
Against the backdrop of last week’s shock defeat to Bodo/Glimt, victory was the only acceptable result for Pep Guardiola’s side, while still relying on others to slip up in order to secure a top-eight finish. City got their wish.
While Real Madrid, PSG and Newcastle all fell away, City took care of business in the first half of their tie as Haaland scored his first goal from open play since the turn of the year, and Rayan Cherki followed up with a well-worked second. Both strikes were teed up by the electric Jeremy Doku before he was forced off clutching his hamstring.
An eighth-place league phase finish means City narrowly avoid the unwanted fixture headache of a play-off tie in February, instead progressing straight to the round of 16, commencing in March. Galatasaray, who offered very little on the night, still sneak through in 20th place.
Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea complete a top-eight dominated by Premier League sides, with Newcastle the only ones to miss out after drawing at PSG.
More to follow.
