Man City vs FC Copenhagen final score, result, highlights as Alvarez, Haaland cap comfortable Champions League win

Dom Farrell

Man City vs FC Copenhagen final score, result, highlights as Alvarez, Haaland cap comfortable Champions League win image

Manchester City eased into the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals as they matched their 3-1 win over FC Copenhagen from last month to progress 6-2 on aggregate.

The holders extended their first-leg advantage within five minutes when Manuel Akanji volleyed home from Julian Alvarez's right-wing corner.

Alvarez then double the lead on the night and it was a moment to forget for Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, who let a speculative shot from out on the left wing slip through an attempted catch and in.

Pep Guardiola made seven alterations to his City side, casting an eye to Sunday's blockbuster Premier League clash with Liverpool, and the much-changed XI were picked apart effortlessly as Mohamed Elyounoussi scored a wonderful goal to reduce the arrears.

Man City vs FC Copenhagen final score

  Fulltime Goalscorers
Man City 3 Akanji (5') , Alvarez (9'), Haaland (45+3')
Copenhagen 1 Elyounoussi (29')

Lineups:

Man City (4-2-3-1, right to left): 31. Ederson (GK) — 82. Rico Lewis, 25. Manuel Akanji, 3. Ruben Dias (5. John Stones), 24. Josko Gvardiol — 8. Mateo Kovacic, 16. Rodri (21. Sergio Gomez) — 27. Matheus Nunes (92. Micah Hamilton), 52. Oscar Bobb, 19. Julian Alvarez — 9. Erling Haaland.

Copenhagen (5-2-3 right to left): 1. Kamil Grabara (GK) — 22. Peter Ankersen, 3. Denis Vavro, 26. Scott McKenna, 2. Kevin Diks, 19. Elias Jelert (24. Birger Meling) — 10. Mohamed Elyounoussi, 36. William Clem (39. Oscar Hojlund) — 47. Victor Froholdt (8. Magnus Mattsson), 18. Orri Oskarsson (14. Andreas Cornelius), 30. Mohamed Achouri (40. Roony Bardghji).

MORE: Stream every UEFA Champions League match live on Paramount+. Try it FREE!

Jacob Neestrup's side played with some expansive ambition thereafter, although Erling Haaland restored City's two-goal advantage in first-half stoppage time to go level with Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane at the top of this season's Champions League scoring charts.

Influential midfielder Rodri set up Haaland's goal with a raking pass and Guardiola had the luxury of taking his key man off at halftime, while youngsters Jacob Wright and Micah Hamilton got run outs during a second half that concluded goalless after another academy product, Rico Lewis, lashed against the crossbar from long range.

MORE: Where to watch Man City vs FC Copenhagen

Is Erling Haaland having a good season?

Sunday's horror miss in the Manchester derby was the defining image of that game for Haaland, even allowing for the fact that he scored to cap a 3-1 victory. "There's a lot of things I can become better at, everything," he said at Tuesday's press conference before the Copenhagen game. "People say I'm good at scoring goals but I missed the biggest chance in the world ever two days ago. I can also become better at that.

"I missed a lot of chances [this season]. I will still keep on missing chances, I will still keep on scoring goals. I'll probably miss a big chance in the future as well and people are going to criticise me, but what can I do then? Should I think of that? No, just focus on scoring more goals and help the team."

It sounds like a pretty ordinary season, especially when you factor in two months out with a foot injury. And yet Haaland is the top scorer in the Premier League and the joint-top scorer in the Champions League alongside Kane and Mbappe. Wednesday's goal took him to a career haul of 41 Champions League goals in 37 games — level with the total amassed by City great Sergio Aguero.

By his own standards, Haaland might be having an average season. By every other measure, he's still being pretty ridiculous.

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Alvarez offers Guardiola solution to Man City's Anfield dilemma

The Manchester City manager headed into this game in a curious position. He only had two injuries, allowing plenty of rotation, but both of those injuries were to his only specialist left-wingers: Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku. Matheus Nunes filled in on that flank recently and departed this game with a gruesomely dislocated finger.

But the Portugal international hadn't taken on that problem position. That task fell to Alvarez, who made an impression early on with his set-piece prowess. Although his goal game with a heavy slice of fortune, it underlined the Argentina star's inclination to always take the positive, aggressive option.

This has made him invaluable to Guardiola amid Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne's injury woes this season, although he lacks the smoothness of City's other attacking creators. Slicker operators will be needed in midfield amid the white heat of Anfield this weekend.

However, Guardiola now knows he can deploy Alvarez's rabid pressing, tenacity and goal threat from the left flank. It would be far from his most left-field selection in a big game, if you'll pardon the pun.

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Man City vs FC Copenhagen lineups, team news

Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku were both absent, meaning a start for City midfielder Matheus NunesJosko Gvardiol returned from a spell on the sidelines to start at left-back.

Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva were all among the substitutes but Erling Haaland was in from kickoff.

Man City (4-2-3-1, right to left): Ederson (GK) — Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol — Kovacic, Rodri —Bobb, Alvarez, Nunes — Haaland.

Man City subs (12): Ortega (GK), Carson (GK), Walker, Stones, Ake, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gomez, Foden, Wright, Susoho, Hamilton.

Since the first leg, FC Copenhagen had lost key striker Viktor Claesson to injury. Head coach Jacob Neestrup switched to a 5-3-2 formation and first-leg goalscorer Magnus Mattsson had to be content with place on the bench.

FC Copenhagen (5-3-2 right to left): Grabara (GK) — Ankersen, Jelert, Vavro, McKenna, Diks — Froholdt, Oskarsson, Clem — Elyounoussi, Achouri.

FC Copenhagen subs (10): Runarsson (GK), Buur (GK), Sorensen, Mattsson, Larsson, Cornelius, Boilesen, Meling, Hojliund, Bardghji

Man City vs FC Copenhagen live stream, TV channel

Here's how to watch this Champions League match across selected areas of the world's major regions:

Region TV Streaming
USA CBS Paramount+,
ViX, Fubo
Canada

DAZN

UK TNT Sports 1 discovery+
India JioTV, Sony LIV

USA: Champions League matches are available to stream on Paramount+ (English). New users can currently get a FREE 30-day trial by entering discount code 'GOAT' at checkout.

CBS is showing the match on TV, while ViX is the place to go for (Spanish) subscribers with Fubo offering additional options.

Canada: Every Champions League game streams live on DAZN.

UK: Matches are broadcast on TNT Sports and streamed on discovery+.

India: JioTV and Sony LIV are the live streaming options for this game.

BUY NOW: Champions League Final tickets still available

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.