Haaland snaps goal drought as Manchester City clinch Champions League knockout berth

Erling Haaland broke his 10-match streak without an open-play goal as Manchester City secured a 2-0 victory over Galatasaray on Wednesday, confirming their advancement to the Champions League knockout rounds.

Rayan Cherki netted the other goal for Pep Guardiola's team, who capitalised on positive results from other matches to slip into the top eight and bypass a hazardous play-off scheduled for next month.

Manchester City are all too aware of the pitfalls in the play-off stage, having been eliminated there by Real Madrid just a year earlier.

Following a humiliating loss to Bodo/Glimt a week ago that threatened their top-eight position, City redeemed themselves against a Galatasaray outfit that will now enter the play-offs.

Haaland had been benched by Guardiola for the first time this Premier League season during Saturday's 2-0 triumph against Wolves.

The Norwegian's sole goal since December 27 before Wednesday had been a penalty against Brighton.

Yet Haaland displayed no hesitation as he casually chipped the ball over Galatasaray keeper Ugurcan Cakir following an excellent pass from Jeremy Doku.

Doku also set up the second strike by finding Cherki in the penalty area to drive the ball low into the net.

However, the Belgian's early exit due to what seemed like a hamstring issue marred the evening for Guardiola.

With Manchester City still competing for trophies across four fronts, they were keen to steer clear of adding two extra fixtures to their packed February schedule.

As new arrival Marc Guehi remains ineligible for Champions League action, Guardiola once more had to field a makeshift backline without central defenders Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

Nevertheless, the Turkish title holders could not exploit City's defensive vulnerabilities, even with Victor Osimhen leading their attack.

The Nigerian drew a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma shortly after the hour but his effort was directed straight at the towering Italian.

Guardiola kept pacing intensely along the sideline in the second half, though the real excitement unfolded elsewhere to lock in City's last-16 qualification.

Real Madrid's 4-2 loss to Benfica and the 1-1 stalemate between Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle meant all three rivals failed to overtake City in the standings.