Erling Haaland ended his goal drought as Manchester City sneaked into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Galatasaray.
Haaland scored for the first time from open play in 10 appearances and Rayan Cherki added a second before half-time as Pep Guardiola’s side saw off the Turkish outfit at the Etihad Stadium.
Galatasaray had few chances before the break — a weak shot from Victor Osimhen aside — but picked up the pace in a second half interrupted at one stage by Kurdish demonstrators.
Osimhen was their chief threat, heading at Gianluigi Donnarumma and then forcing a save from the Italian with a first-time shot.
Thanks to other results, the victory lifted the 2023 winners to a final position of eighth in the league phase, meaning they avoid the play-off round that proved their undoing last season.
Galatasaray’s large and noisy following — who were a notable presence in the city centre’s bars throughout the afternoon and marched en masse to the stadium, setting off fireworks along the way — were silenced by full-time.
Their side, which contained two former City players in Ilkay Gündogan and Leroy Sané, at least had the consolation of holding onto a spot in the top 24.
City started strongly and could have taken the lead within three minutes as Rayan Aït-Nouri fired in a cross for an unmarked Haaland but the Norwegian headed wide.
Haaland made no mistake when presented with his next opportunity seven minutes later.
Doku made the first of several dangerous runs and slid a pass through the defence for Haaland to race onto. Abdülkerim Bardakci was no match for the forward’s pace and goalkeeper Ugurcan Çakir was left exposed as Haaland calmly chipped over his head.
Omar Marmoush got into a good position for City but slipped as he shaped to shoot.
The pace of the game dropped after a long stoppage following a clash of heads between Tijjani Reijnders and Davinson Sánchez, who were both bandaged up and played on.
The game petered out but City held on for victory and qualification.
ESPN
