(Football news) With the knowledge that success would guarantee a spot in the top two in Group G, the holders easily defeated their Swiss opponents, who were beaten by two goals from Erling Haaland after a deft Phil Foden strike and hardly had any possession in the City half for the whole ninety minutes.

Before the game, Man City had both good and bad news about injuries. While Haaland was cleared to play following his weekend ankle scare, Manuel Akanji had an issue during the warm-up and Kyle Walker took his position in the backline.

Despite an eleventh-hour change in the starting lineup, Man City dominated the first half and should have taken the lead with six minutes remaining when Jack Grealish squared for Rico Lewis inside the area, but Loris Benito deflected the teenager’s goal-bound attempt behind for a corner.

Leading scorer Anthony Racioppi for Benito was also earning his keep, save two goals in the 17th minute from Walker’s low free kick and Foden’s rebound, but five minutes later Sandro Lauper let him down.

Amidst a sea of ardent Young Boys supporters, the 27-year-old clipped Matheus Nunes inside the area directly in front of the referee. Haaland then boldly stepped up to break the tie by sending Racioppi the wrong way.

When Kyle Walker curled a low ball to the Norwegian at the back post in the 36th minute, it took a little deflection off a Young Boys defender, and Haaland could only shin the ball into Racioppi’s appreciative arms. This wasted opportunity cost him twice as many goals as he had during the game.
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