The Sky Blues Soaring High: A Closer Look at Manchester City's Dominance

 

On Wednesday, Manchester City defeated Young Boys 3-1 to maintain their unbeaten record in the Champions League, and Erling Haaland scored his first goal of the season.
Having played five Champions League games without a goal, Haaland arrived in a pouring rain in Bern.
After making 30 appearances in the Champions League, the City striker had scored 35 goals. At the Wankdorf Stadium, he returned to form with a double in the second half.
After Meschack Elia had cancelled out Manuel Akanji's first-half goal for the holders, Haaland's penalty gave City the lead again.
Days after being sent off in City's Premier League triumph against Brighton, the defender from Switzerland, Akanji, scored his first goal for the team this season while on vacation back home.
In the latter moments of the game, Haaland scored once again to secure the victory and bring his tally of goals in all competitions this season to 11.
After victories against RB Leipzig and Red Star Belgrade, Pep Guardiola's team leads Group G with three straight wins.
With two games remaining, City would advance to the knockout stages if they defeat Young Boys again at the Etihad Stadium the following month.
Guardiola has acknowledged that, after losing to Newcastle in the League Cup and then losing to Wolves and Arsenal in the Premier League back-to-back, City is still feeling the effects of its triple crown victory.
However, City had won their last 16 Champions League games, so not even the unusual obstacle presented by Young Boys' artificial field could stop them from winning the competition.
Even when they are not at full strength, they are still a formidable team, and they had the opportunity to grab the lead against Young Boys right away when Rodri bent to shoot just wide from Matheus Nunes' corner.

After Jack Grealish set up the City winger, Anthony Racioppi of Young Boys stopped Jeremy Doku's thunderbolt. Loris Benito stopped Nunes's close-range attempt as City's pressure increased, but Racioppi dropped Grealish's shot.
Guardiola's team was nearly caught off guard by two sucker blows despite their superiority.
While Cedric Itten's header floated onto Ederson's net, Nathan Ake's last-ditch tackle stopped Sandro Lauper in his tracks as he was about to shoot.
At the fast break, Racioppi saved the day for the hosts by stopping Doku's curling shot and then making another outstanding stop to deny Rodi's flicked effort.
When Racioppi blocked Ruben Dias' header against the bar in the 48th minute, City eventually took the lead thanks to a close-range goal from Akanji.
Elia raced clear after a defence-splitting pass from Cheikh Niasse deep in his own half, cutting their lead to just four minutes.
Elia scored a beautiful chipped finish over Ederson, who sprinted off his line to try to stop the threat, from the edge of the area.
After 67 minutes, City swiftly restored their lead after having unpredictably blown the lead.
Haaland stepped up to hammer home the penalty after Mohamed Ali Camara sent Rodri flying into the area.