Erling Haaland ended his 10-game wait for a goal from open play as Manchester City beat Galatasaray 2-0 on Wednesday to book their place in the Champions League last 16.
Rayan Cherki was also on target for Pep Guardiola’s men, who took advantage of results elsewhere going their way to sneak into the top eight and avoid a perilous play-off next month.
“With a bit of drama, we did it,” said City captain Bernardo Silva.
“With the schedule, with the amount of injuries we have at the minute, to have those two full weeks to prepare the team, to recover some players, to focus on other competitions for now is going to be really good.”
City know the dangers of the play-off round only too well after being dumped out at that stage by Real Madrid 12 months ago.
A week on from an embarrassing defeat to Bodo/Glimt that put their place in the top eight at risk, City made amends against a Galatasaray side that will go into the play-offs.
Haaland had been left on the bench by Guardiola for the first time in the Premier League this season for Saturday’s 2-0 win over Wolves.
The Norwegian’s only goal since December 27 prior to Wednesday had come from the penalty spot against Brighton.
But Haaland showed no signs of a lack of confidence when he nonchalantly lifted the ball over Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir from Jeremy Doku’s fine through ball.
Doku was also the creator for the second goal when he picked out Cherki inside the box to slam low into the corner.
But the Belgian’s departure soon after with what appeared to be a hamstring injury was the one sour note of the night for Guardiola.
“It’s a big miss,” said Guardiola. “Jeremy is such an important player for many reasons.”
With City still in the running for silverware in four competitions, they were desperate to avoid adding two more games to a congested calendar in February.
Marc Guehi was not yet eligible to play in the Champions League, forcing Guardiola to name an experimental defence without centre-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.
But the Turkish champions failed to seriously test City’s weak spot despite boasting the presence of Victor Osimhen up front.
The Nigerian forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into one stop just after the hour mark but his shot was too close to the giant Italian.
Guardiola continued to frantically prowl the touchline in the second period but all the drama was taking place away from the Etihad Stadium to secure City’s place in the last 16.
Real Madrid’s 4-2 defeat at Benfica and a 1-1 draw between Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle saw all three miss the chance to finish ahead of City.
Madrid could await in March as the 15-time European champions are one of City’s four possible opponents in the last 16 alongside Inter Milan, Benfica and Bodo/Glimt.
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