- YB also had to admit defeat to Manchester City 3-0 away in the group stage of the Champions League.
- As in the first leg, Erling Haaland scored twice for the game-defining “Skyblues”.
- The Bernese team, down to ten men from the 53rd minute onwards, didn’t have a single chance to score at the Etihad Stadium.
It could have been clearer at the end. But Manchester City acted carelessly, imprecisely and playfully in the last 30 minutes with one more player on the field. The game was decided at the latest after Erling Haaland’s 3-0 win in the 51st minute and Sandro Lauper’s yellow-red card just 2 minutes later. The YB midfielder, who had already been sent off in Winterthur, was rightly shown the second yellow card for a serious foul.
The man of the match was once again Haaland. Still questionable before the game due to a minor injury, the Norwegian storm tank was still in the starting line-up and shone again with two goals. When it was 3-0, he took a pass from Rico Lewis on the edge of the penalty area and then smashed the ball into the far corner. With this victory, ManCity is already definitely in the knockout phase.
ManCity dominated the game from the start
A one-sided first half ended 0-2 from Bern’s perspective. As expected, Manchester City played their dominant combination game from the start and never let YB get close to goalie Ederson. The Young Boys were unable to score a single goal in the first 45 minutes.
The home team, on the other hand, used their high share of possession to create one or two chances. Things got really hot for YB after just 7 minutes when Loris Benito cleared a shot from Lewis off the line at the last moment. 10 minutes later, YB goalie Anthony Racioppi was able to distinguish himself twice in a short space of time: first he parried a powerful free kick from Kyle Walker, then Phil Foden’s follow-up shot.
Haaland breaks the spell
The Bernese held themselves harmless for just over 20 minutes at the Etihad Stadium. Until Lauper committed an unnecessary and crystal-clear foul on Matheus Nunes in his own penalty area (23rd) and was lucky not to see the traffic light card after his warning 4 minutes earlier. Striker Haaland took care of the matter and sent Racioppi into the wrong corner: 1-0 for ManCity.
Without becoming dangerous themselves, YB did well after the narrow deficit. Nevertheless, the second goal came shortly before the half-time whistle – bitter for the Super League leader, but well-deserved for the “Citizens”. After a great shift of play by Jack Grealish, Foden left his opponent Ulisses Garcia standing in the penalty area and safely beat Racioppi with a well-placed shot into the far corner.
In the parallel game in Group G, RB Leipzig won away against Red Star Belgrade 2-1. This means that the Leipzig team is also in the knockout round early. For YB, on the other hand, it is now about securing their place in the Europa League in the duel with Red Star.
This is how it continues
YB will be in demand again in the Super League on Saturday. At home, the Bernese welcome FC Luzern (live from 8:10 p.m. on SRF two). The “premier class” continues on November 28th with the important home game against Red Star Belgrade.