Man City player ratings vs Young Boys: Erling Haaland is back in business! Norwegian ends Champions League goal drought but something’s still not quite right

Erling Haaland does not look completely right and yet he still keeps scoring. The Norwegian missed a hatful of chances against Young Boys that you would normally expect him to bury, but he left the match with two more goals in a pretty routine 3-1 win for Manchester City in Bern.

A scrappy goal from Manuel Akanji put City ahead early in the second half after a bitty first period on the astroturf pitch, but Meschak Elia lobbed Ederson to draw Young Boys level.

City got their noses back in front with a fortuitous penalty which Haaland converted, ending a five-game drought in the Champions League. The Norwegian then made sure of the victory with a fine, top-corner finish to take his tally for the season to 11 goals, perfect preparation for Sunday’s Manchester derby.

Goalkeeper & Defence

• Midfield

  Rico Lewis (5/10):

  A big drop off compared to his masterclass in Leipzig. Played Elias onside and not involved enough in the build-up play.

  Rodri (6/10):

  City’s driving force through the middle and a big goal threat. Close to scoring a header and won the decisive penalty.

  Matheus Nunes (6/10):

  Had two decent chances to score. Got forward a lot but lost the ball on occasion in important areas.

  Mateo Kovacic (6/10):

  Kept things ticking over in midfield with slick, short passing.

• 

  Attack

  Jeremy Doku (7/10):

  Very lively in the first half and should have scored the opener. Faded after half-time.

  Erling Haaland (7/10):

  Still didn’t look completely himself and missed a slew of chances. But, being Haaland, still scored twice and his second was a fine strike.

  Jack Grealish (8/10):

  Man of the match and looked like he had a point to prove. Certainly made it and may have played his way into the starting line-up for the weekend.

  

  Subs & Manager

  Julian Alvarez (7/10):

  Scored a lovely goal but it was chalked off by VAR for handball by Grealish. Showed great understanding with Haaland.

  Bernardo Silva (6/10):

  An improvement on Nunes and helped City finish the game well.

  Sergio Gomez (N/A):

  Came on in the 90th minute.

  Kalvin Phillips (N/A):

  Came on in the 90th minute.

  Pep Guardiola (7/10):

  Made seven changes with the derby in mind and still saw his side control most of the match and earn a comfortable win.

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