Manchester City leaves Bayern Munich hopeless and takes big step toward semifinals

Manchester City is in pole position to reach the semifinals of the Champions League. Coach Pep Guardiola’s team handled Bayern Munich 3-0 at their own stadium, thanks in part to a goal by Erling Haaland.

Leading up to the Manchester cracker, Bayern had one question on their mind: how do we stop City’s super striker? The German defense, which included Matthijs de Ligt, succeeded quite well in the first half – although the Norwegian almost scored in a precarious moment on the goal line.

Yann Sommer was startled when Haaland saw that he needed some time to control a return ball and came sprinting towards him at full speed. Just in time, Bayern’s goalkeeper worked the ball to the side.

At times the visitors managed to escape City’s pressure, leading to a number of opportunities. The best chance was for Jamal Musiala, whose shot opportunity midway through the first half came up against a pushed-out leg from Rúben Dias.

Not long after that moment, the other side of the field did hit the mark. Rodri took advantage of the space provided and curled the ball into the German goal from outside the penalty area. It was the Spaniard’s first Champions League goal, in his 44th game in the billion-dollar ball.

After his earlier confrontation with Haaland on the goal line, Sommer, who could do little about Rodri’s goal, again experienced a narrow escape. The Swiss goalkeeper misjudged a cross, gifted İlkay Gündoğan the opportunity for the 2-0, but recovered his mistake with a fine save.

In the closing stages of the first half, Bayern got into the game a little better. It led, among other things, to chances for Leroy Sané, who shot wide from the edge of the penalty area just before halftime and shortly after the break failed to pass City goalkeeper Ederson from close range.

After the German revival, the home team took firm control again. Twenty minutes before time, Bernardo Silva headed a fine Haaland cross into the ropes. The Portuguese, by the way, could not grumble that he only received a yellow card after a serious foul on Musiala.

Not much later it also became 3-0. This time Haaland himself was the terminus of a quick City attack. The Norwegian, who has now scored 34 times in 26 Champions League games, was served at the far post by John Stones and tapped the ball past Sommer.