Erling Haaland scored for the 12th game running for club and country as Manchester City cruised to a 2-0 victory over Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday. Bernardo Silva also netted to rubber-stamp City's first away win in Europe's top competition for more than a year, taking Pep Guardiola's side on to seven points from their three games in the league phase.
Haaland missed the target with a free header less than three minutes into the game, but he soon made amends by firing in a cut-back from Rico Lewis after patient build-up play from the visitors. It was the Norwegian's 53rd Champions League goal and saw him move past Mohamed Salah and into the competition's top 10 all-time scorers, while it was his 15th goal in 11 games for City this season.
City monopolised possession and looked comfortable for most of the game against the team placed third in La Liga, illustrating the widening gap between the top divisions in Spain and England, and they doubled their lead with a header from captain Bernardo Silva, who scored his first goal of the season five minutes before half-time.
City's dominance was all the more impressive as they were still without Rodri while he recovers from a hamstring injury, though the Spaniard still travelled to the club where he launched his career as he was inducted into their Hall of Fame. And there was more injury concern for City when Nico Gonzalez pulled up in the second half and hobbled off the pitch.
Villarreal finally woke up and had a go in the final 20 minutes as Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced to make an impressive save from Pape Gueye's piledriver while Nicolas Pepe hammered a close-range volley over the bar and Tani Oluwaseyi hit the woodwork. City also finished strongly, though, and Haaland could have scored twice more.
GOAL rates Man City's players from the Estadio de la Ceramica…
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Gianluigi Donnarumma (7/10):
A passenger for most of the game but did well when called in to action and flew across his goal to turn away Gueye's effort.
Matheus Nunes (7/10):
Combined well with Savinho as City took the game right to the hosts and had none of his occasional lapses defensively.
Ruben Dias (6/10):
Had little to worry about until late in the second half when he mucked in to protect the clean sheet.
John Stones (7/10):
Villarreal's lack of pressing played right into his hands and he was able to maraud forward and help out the midfield.
Josko Gvardiol (5/10):
Lacked concentration at times and got a dressing down from Guardiola for sending a pass to an opponent.
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Nico Gonzalez (7/10):
Looked very comfortable back in his homeland and meant that City barely noticed Rodri wasn't there. As cruel luck would have it, he looked in pain when he came off and could be set for a spell on the sidelines just as he was hitting form.
Rico Lewis (8/10):
Played a dictating role and exploited Villarreal's lack of intensity by running rings around them and causing havoc with his slick passing, including assisting Haaland's goal.
Bernardo Silva (7/10):
His tireless running and precision passing helped dissect the hosts.
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Savinho (8/10):
Tormented Villareal in the first half with his trickery, also setting up Bernardo's goal.
Erling Haaland (8/10):
Had four chances and will be disappointed he only scored one of them. His glancing header was his worst miss, but he bounced back quickly to score his fourth Champions League goal in three games before being denied by two good saves late on.
Jeremy Doku (7/10):
Created a good chance to score in the opening minute and played his part in the early blitz.
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Mateo Kovacic (5/10):
Got 33 minutes after a cameo against Everton, but his arrival coincided with Villarreal improving.
Tijjani Reijnders (6/10):
Linked up nicely with Haaland when he came on.
Oscar Bobb (6/10)
Got some joy down the right and created a half-chance for Reijnders.
Omar Marmoush (N/A):
Brought on late to make his first appearance since August.
Rayan Cherki (N/A):
Brought on in the 86th minute.
Pep Guardiola (7/10):
Watched his side walk all over Villarreal and quickly put the game to bed, although he will be a bit concerned with how they sat off later in the game.