City – with substitute Doku – qualified for the eighth finals after Haaland’s world goal, scoring Openda also certain of next round | Sport

Pep Guardiola does not want to take any risks with goldcrest Jérémy Doku. After his unprecedented performance against Bournemouth with one goal and four assists, Doku started on the bench against Red Star. The Citizens didn’t need his flashes either. The Swiss were gasping for breath from minute one.

After 23 minutes of play, referee Erik Lambrechts pointed to the spot. Erling Haaland kicked in very hard.

The game image did not change: City moved the ball around very quickly and looked for splitting combinations. Just before half-time, Phil Foden was able to complete one.

In the second half, everyone immediately woke up after Haaland’s bomb. From outside the sixteen he curled the ball wonderfully into the square. Young Boys were already counted out, especially when Sandro Lauper simply took his second yellow and therefore red two minutes later.

Guardiola brought in Haaland and Walker and gave Oscar Bobb and Kalvin Philips some playing time. But in minute 80 he also brought Jérémy Doku between the lines. It led to panic among the Young Boys defenders. After one minute, Doku almost had an assist after the Swiss kept giving way. How happy they are that Doku started on the bench. They will be less lucky at Chelsea on Sunday.

In addition to Doku, Loïs Openda is also certain of a ticket for the eighth finals at the champions’ ball. In Belgrade they lost Red Star from the first minute. Xavi Simons cleverly curled in the 0-1 after an individual action. Loïs Openda had the chance to double the score twice in the first half, but saw his shot go wide and fail face to face with the goalkeeper.

Not Openda’s chances, but an incident with Red Star coach Bakhar stuck. The Red Devil wanted to keep a ball in, but was unable to do so and was then shouted at by Bakhar. Openda reacted particularly furiously and was also pulled by the arm. We don’t know what inspired Bakhar, but he did receive a red card.

Openda immediately took sporting revenge after the break. He finished off a counter perfectly with a hard bang. Unsustainable. Benjamin Henrichs unintentionally brought back the tension with an own goal. But Leipzig held out and, like Man City, qualified for the eighth finals. City and Leipzig are still competing for the group win, Red Star and Young Boys for third place.

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