Soccer Football - Champions League - Group G - BSC Young Boys v Manchester City - Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland - October 25, 2023 Manchester City's Erling Braut Haaland scores their third goal REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
(Reuters) -Erling Haaland ended his goal drought with a second-half brace while Manuel Akanji scored on his return to his homeland as reigning champions Manchester City all but secured their spot in the Champions League knockout stage with a 3-1 win over Swiss side Young Boys on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola's side maintained their 100% winning record in Group G with three victories, despite their pre-game concerns about playing on the slick artificial turf at rain-lashed Wankdorf Stadium.
"It was an exceptional game," Guardiola told TNT Sports. I'm just really, really pleased for the way we played; we need one more game to qualify mathematically and then two more to finish first."
City can clinch their spot in the knockout stage when they play Young Boys again, this time at home, on Nov. 7.
Haaland scored for the first time in six Champions League games with a penalty in the 67th minute after Mohamed Camara's tackle on Rodri in the box.
City's goal-scoring machine added a fabulous second goal when he moved the ball from his left foot to his right before firing it into the top corner in the 86th.
Haaland, who rewrote several scoring records last season, added another one on Wednesday, breaking Kylian Mbappe's mark as the youngest player to score 37 Champions League goals. The Norwegian striker, who is 23 years and 96 days, did it in 33 games.
"It is important to have the chances; the people want him to fail," Guardiola said. "I am sorry but this guy will score goals all his life, with the chances he is an incredible threat... he is going to score until the last day he plays football."
City had a string of first-half near misses before Akanji finally broke the deadlock three minutes after the break when Ruben Dias's header was pushed off the crossbar by keeper Anthony Racioppi and the Swiss defender swung his right leg high to boot it in.
But Young Boys caught City keeper Ederson in no man's land to level four minutes later, sending in Meschack Elia with a superb pass which he scooped high over Ederson into the net.
A City goal felt like an inevitability after their string of unbelievable first-half near misses, including Jack Grealish's curling shot that Racioppi dropped, allowing Matheus Nunes to bundle the ball towards the goal before Loris Benito slid to save it on the line.
"That is how it goes, if you don't take them chances it can be difficult," defender Rico Lewis told TNT Sports. "In the end the forwards took their chances and we won the game."
City's Julian Alvarez had a goal waved off after VAR determined Grealish had handled the ball in the build-up.
Young Boys are third in the group on one point after three matches.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; editing by Clare Fallon)
