Man City 5-0 Copenhagen: Player ratings as relentless Haaland bulldozes Danes
By Mitch Wilks
Manchester City cruised to a third straight win in the Champions League with a 5-0 mauling of Copenhagen on Wednesday night, ensuring they stayed top of group G in the process.
The visitors would've known they had quite the task on their hands coming to the Etihad with City in such rampant prolific form this season and fresh off the back of a Manchester derby win, but nothing could prepare for the 90 minutes they had to endure.
Copenhagen's away supporters made brilliant noise throughout the night despite having to watch their side concede three goals inside 32 minutes, with Erling Haaland and City running riot.
Proceedings didn't let up after the break and City could've had more than five if not for Kamil Grabara in goal for the visitors, who had an obscenely busy night with his side completely pinned back.
From the first whistle, the game was - as expected - played almost exclusively in the Copenhagen half. City's wingers stretched the play to the touchline and their remaining attackers pulled holes in the visitors defensive unit.
It took just seven minutes for them to capitalise on a lapse in concentration. Joao Cancelo fired in a low cross and with Haaland unmarked, the ball inevitably found itself in the back of the net for 1-0.
Grabara did well on his return to action to keep the deficit down to just one goal after conceding early, scrambling around to deny Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish with two particularly impressive saves.
Following a quiet patch of play, Copenhagen caved again and found themselves 2-0 down after half an hour. The ball went out to an unmarked Sergio Gomez on the edge of the box, whose shot forced another good save out of Grabara. But of course, Haaland was there to tap in the rebound.
Before they could even lick their wounds, City added a third after 39 minutes. Gomez tried his luck again from the edge of the box, with his shot deflecting off two defenders and beyond the goalkeeper for an own-goal. Jacob Neestrup's side had been completely decimated heading into half-time.
Intricate passing, patient build-up play and constant pressure resulted in Marko Stamenic pulling Aymeric Laporte to the floor after 54 minutes, inviting Riyad Mahrez to make it 4-0 from the penalty spot on his 200th appearance for the club.
Such a rampant display allowed Guardiola to begin resting his big names. After Haaland was hauled off at half-time, the likes of Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva were withdrawn later on. It provided little relief for Copenhagen, though, who remained pinned into their own half as City played a torturous game of pass and move.
After surviving an unexpected scare at the back when Paul Mukairu's shot was blocked, City went down the other end and made it five. Jack Grealish drove forward with the ball and found Mahrez, who squared for Julian Alvarez to tap in his first Champions League goal.
The rain continued to pour down at the Etihad as the goals finally dried up for the night, with Robbie Savage resorting to solving maths problems on television commentary as City eased to another three points.
Man City player ratings vs Copenhagen - Champions League
1. Man City (4-3-3)
GK: Ederson - 6/10 - A very lonely figure between the sticks. Should've brought a jacket with him - will fall ill standing around twiddling his thumbs in the rain like that.
RB: Joao Cancelo - 7/10 - Showed up, made an array of lovely passes and crosses, caused problems, left. A typical Cancelo performance. Also made three tackles to keep City so constantly high up the field.
CB: Ruben Dias - 6/10 - An easy night at the office for the Portuguese defender. Kept things neat and tidy.
CB: Aymeric Laporte - 6/10 - His presence in the penalty box was essentially the assist for City's fourth goal. About as interesting as his evening got.
LB: Sergio Gomez - 7/10 - Afforded far too much room at times, but picked up good positions and interchanged intelligently with Grealish on the left flank. Made a strong account of himself.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan - 8/10 - Completely set the tone at the base of midfield - well, that base being well into the opposition half. Sprayed passes for fun and
CM: Bernardo Silva - 7/10 - Twisted and turned several Copenhagen defenders into oblivion. Plenty of lovely passes around the corner and between the lines.
CM: Jack Grealish - 8/10 - Really enjoyed himself with acres of time and space to operate in. Stretched play when needed and brought Gomez into the game behind him. Turned up the heat later on; deserved a goal.
RW: Riyad Mahrez - 7/10 - Began the game wearing silly and wholly unnecessary woolly gloves from the club shop. Took them off in the second half and scored his first goal of the season. Lesson learned - don't bring the gloves out too early, Riyad. It's not that cold yet.
ST: Erling Haaland - 8/10 - Not even funny anymore, is it? The man is like a magnet to a loose ball in the penalty area. Incomprehensibly clinical. Denied a hat-trick by the boss, which felt harsh, because he was nailed on for one.
LW: Julian Alvarez - 6/10 - A quiet first half slowly ticked over into a more productive second. Struck the post once, but got his goal late on with good movement in the box.
SUB: Cole Palmer (45' for Haaland) - 7/10 - Had a decent effort saved shortly after coming on following a positive, direct run. Looked a natural in the side.
SUB: Rico Lewis (57' for Cancelo) - 6/10 - Made a brilliant block to deny an otherwise certain Copenhagen goal in a very rare attack later in the game.
SUB: Joshua Wilson-Esbrand (66' for Silva) - N/A
Manager: Pep Guardiola - 8/10 - Hard for him to get it wrong when the gulf in quality is so big. Guardiola still has to get it right, though, and he did. Played a glut of attackers and they operated seamlessly; made sensible substitutions, too, even if a little mean on Haaland.