Man City 5-0 Copenhagen: Erling Haaland scores twice in thumping Champions League victory

Erling Haaland continued his incredible scoring form with two more goals as Manchester City swept Copenhagen aside to make it three wins out of three in Champions League Group G.

With or without him, City were far too quick and clever for their Danish opponents and would have ended up with more than five goals from a totally one-sided match if not for Copenhagen keeper Kamil Grabara.

Fresh from crushing neighbours Manchester United at the weekend, City and Haaland picked up where they left off on Sunday and took less than seven minutes to open their account.

Cancelo's low cross found Haaland in space inside the area and, predictably, he made no mistake with a powerful finish from what was his first touch of the game.

The only surprise was that it took until after the half-hour mark for City to extend their lead and, predictably, it was Haaland who was in the right place to tap the loose ball after Grabara had parried a Sergio Gomez shot.

The last thing Copenhagen needed at this stage was bad luck but their misery was compounded before half-time when a Gomez shot took a double deflection off Denis Vavro and then David Khocholava on its way into the net.

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With victory secured, Haaland was replaced by Cole Palmer at half-time - even goal machines need a rest - as City cast an eye towards their next game, against Southampton here on Saturday.

His exit reduced City's threat but they still dominated possession and further goals followed.

Riyad Mahrez made it 4-0 from the penalty spot after Aymeric Laporte was fouled, then the Algeria forward turned provider to set up Julian Alvarez to round off the scoring from close range.

City were completely dominant and will be heavy favourites to repeat this result in Denmark next week and ensure their progress to the last 16.

City have competition for places too

Haaland will continue to hog the headlines but Guardiola will be pleased to see Mahrez get off the mark with his first goal and assist of 2022-23.

The 31-year-old was City's top scorer last season with 24 goals in all competitions, but had been in unconvincing form in the early stages of this campaign.

This week, Guardiola even went as far as saying he would not pick him until he improved his physical fitness - but this was surely the response he was looking for from Mahrez after restoring him to the team.

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Mahrez was not the only player to make his case for more minutes with the lively Gomez impressing again, just as he did after coming on against United, and only the post stopped Alvarez getting a second goal.

At the back, Laporte's recovery from injury meant he was fit enough to make his first start of the season, while Ruben Dias was recalled after finding himself an unused substitute for the derby.

With a busy schedule to come that sees City play 10 times before the campaign pauses for the World Cup on 12 November, competition for places is exactly what Guardiola wants.

Player of the match

HaalandErling Haaland

with an average of 8.24

• Man CityManchester CityManchester City
• FC CopenhagenFC CopenhagenFC Copenhagen

Manchester City

Avg

1. Squad number9Player nameHaaland

   Average rating

   8.24
2. Squad number19Player nameÁlvarez

   Average rating

   7.29
3. Squad number20Player nameBernardo Silva

   Average rating

   7.25
4. Squad number8Player nameGündogan

   Average rating

   7.24
5. Squad number26Player nameMahrez

   Average rating

   7.08
6. Squad number10Player nameGrealish

   Average rating

   7.04
7. Squad number80Player namePalmer

   Average rating

   6.98
8. Squad number82Player nameLewis

   Average rating

   6.92
9. Squad number7Player nameJoão Cancelo

   Average rating

   6.89
10. Squad number97Player nameWilson-Esbrand

    Average rating

    6.87
11. Squad number3Player nameRúben Dias

    Average rating

    6.85
12. Squad number21Player nameGómez

    Average rating

    6.77
13. Squad number14Player nameLaporte

    Average rating

    6.73
14. Squad number31Player nameEderson

    Average rating

    6.69

FC Copenhagen

Avg

1. Squad number1Player nameGrabara

   Average rating

   6.18
2. Squad number27Player nameLund

   Average rating

   5.84
3. Squad number35Player nameStamenic

   Average rating

   5.70
4. Squad number15Player nameDaramy

   Average rating

   5.48
5. Squad number30Player nameHaraldsson

   Average rating

   5.48
6. Squad number29Player nameKaramoko

   Average rating

   5.47
7. Squad number7Player nameClaesson

   Average rating

   5.46
8. Squad number34Player nameKristiansen

   Average rating

   5.45
9. Squad number8Player nameJóhannesson

   Average rating

   5.43
10. Squad number22Player nameAnkersen

    Average rating

    5.41
11. Squad number12Player nameLerager

    Average rating

    5.37
12. Squad number5Player nameKhocholava

    Average rating

    5.35
13. Squad number17Player nameMukairu

    Average rating

    5.29
14. Squad number2Player nameDiks

    Average rating

    5.27
15. Squad number3Player nameVavro

    Average rating

    5.26
16. Squad number6Player nameSørensen

    Average rating

    4.90

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