In the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Parken Stadium on Tuesday, Manchester City survived a scare to beat FC Copenhagen with a 3-1 victory.
The match saw Phil Foden scoring late to ensure a two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg.
Despite the Danes still being on their winter break, Manchester City dominated the opening exchanges and took the lead in the 10th minute when Kevin De Bruyne scored with a brilliant first-time finish across the keeper and in at the far post.
City continued to press and their attacking prowess saw the home side’s box looking like the shooting gallery at Copenhagen’s Tivoli fairground.
However, their momentum was briefly derailed when Jack Grealish suffered an injury, forcing Pep Guardiola to send on Jeremy Doku instead.
The home side shocked the visitors in the 34th minute, thanks to a goal from Magnus Mattsson.
Mattsson, who joined the club from Dutch side NEC Nijmegen on Feb. 1, could not have imagined a better debut.
A poorly hit pass from City keeper Ederson fell to Mohamed Elyounoussi, and his blocked shot fell into the path of Mattsson, who curled a beautiful strike inside the right-hand post to send the home fans’ plastic cups of beer flying into the chilly night air in celebration.
However, their lead was not to last, and City fell behind again just before the break when De Bruyne’s persistence in a block tackle saw the ball fall to Bernardo Silva, who finished deftly with his left foot.
In the second half, City created many chances and could have scored more if not for the Copenhagen defense’s resilience.
Foden cut in from the left in second-half stoppage time to rifle home a third goal and make it 11 wins on the trot for the English champions.
“We’ve played here a couple of times, the atmosphere is great, and you know they’re going to try and do everything. They had a great group stage, so we have to respect them,” De Bruyne told broadcaster TNT Sport.
Overall, Manchester City deserved the win, but they missed several opportunities to increase their lead.
The two sides meet in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium on March 6, where Manchester City will aim to secure their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
