City take control of Champions League tie with win in Copenhagen

Men's Team

FC Copenhagen 1-3 City: Match stats and reaction

Kevin De Bruyne got the scoring under way for the European champions in the 10th minute with a low strike on his first Champions League start of the season.

Copenhagen grabbed a surprise equaliser in the 34th minute when Magnus Mattsson curled home but we regained the lead shortly before half-time thanks to a deft Bernardo Silva finish.

Phil Foden topped the night off in added time with a powerful hit beyond goalkeeper Kamil Grabara.

There was a moment of concern earlier on as Jack Grealish was forced off midway through the first half due to injury.

GUARDIOLA’S INJURY UPDATE FOLLOWING COPENHAGEN WIN

The victory marks our 10th consecutive win in European football – a run comprising of nine Champions League successes stretching back to last season’s semi-final and including the UEFA Super Cup penalty shootout win over Sevilla.

Our run of nine straight victories in this competition is the longest ever for any English side while Foden‘s late goal means we are the first side in Champions League history to score three or more goals in seven successive games.

It also extends our unbeaten run in the Champions League to 20 matches and our current sequence of victories to 11 in all competitions.

We welcome the Danish champions to the Etihad Stadium for the return leg on Wednesday 6 March.

What happened

A raucous atmosphere welcomed the players out on to the Parken turf and City were whistled comprehensively during our early spells of possession.

That didn’t disrupt us at all however, with Nathan Ake’s chipped cross in the third minute creating our first clear opportunity.

Kevin De Bruyne miscued his header from six yards out but the signs were promising for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Our second glaring chance came from another cross, this time from the right.

Bernardo found Ruben Dias in the middle, whose header down into the ground was parried by Grabara at Ake fractionally too quickly for the Dutch defender to sort his feet out.

Picture Special

Gallery: De Bruyne dazzles in Denmark!

Copenhagen’s extensive winter break – it has been more than two months since their last competitive fixture – appeared to be having a serious impact on their sharpness. We were on top in all areas and quicker to every loose ball.

Our dominance told in the 10th minute when Foden controlled a cross-field ball from Dias, cut inside and played in De Bruyne.

The Belgian fired it across Grabara with his first touch in the no-nonsense style we’ve become accustomed to during his eight and a half seasons in City colours.

Jack Grealish had started the match brightly but was dejected in the 18th minute when he lay down after a short sprint, seemingly holding his groin.

The England international was replaced by Jeremy Doku shortly afterwards and we will wait to see the extent of his layoff.

We came within inches of doubling our lead at the midway point of the half when Bernardo’s cross from the left byline deflected off Denis Vavro and onto the crossbar.

Only frantic last ditch defending from our hosts kept the ball out on the half hour mark, with Rodrigo and Bernardo both prevented by a collection of bodies gathering in front of their goalkeeper.

Instead, it was Copenhagen who scored next. An extremely rare misplaced pass from Ederson went straight to Mohamed Elyounoussi on the edge of the box.

Dias blocked the winger’s shot but only into the path of Magnus Mattsson, who curled past the diving Brazilian from 25 yards.

We were back in front before the break however with a clinical, composed finish from Bernardo.

The Portuguese playmaker was fortunate to receive the ball in front of goal – a ricochet off De Bruyne saw it bounce his way – but he made full use of the chance by flicking it beyond Grabara with the outside of his boot.

De Bruyne had the first standout chance of the second period, hammering it from 20 yards but seeing Grabara reach to his left and divert it behind.

Copenhagen threw target man Andreas Cornelius on in the second half to give them a focal point in attack. The hosts did take their rare opportunities to venture forward but rarely looked like matching Mattson’s earlier effort.

City’s dominance of the ball continued, with Foden, Rodrigo and Doku all working room for a shot without unduly threatening Grabara’s goal.

Men's Team

Foden: De Bruyne is a pleasure to play with

Erling Haaland was well marshalled by Copenhagen’s centre-backs throughout the evening.

Never one to be perturbed, the prolific striker still carved out a chance for himself after 77 minutes when he leapt highest to meet Bernardo’s cross, with a combination of defensive deflection and crossbar denying him.

De Bruyne had the chance to make it three on the night but his low free-kick from 25 yards was collected comfortably by Grabara.

After Erling Haaland had another two openings of his own, Foden was instead the scorer of our third when he completed an incisive one-two with De Bruyne before firing home in the 92nd minute.

The Blues celebrated safe in the knowledge we will take the Danes back to our Etihad fortress already two goals up.

Teams

CITY XI: Ederson, Walker (C), Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo (Nunes 78), Foden, Grealish (Doku 21), Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Alvarez, Akanji, Bobb, Wright, Susoho, Lewis

COPENHAGEN XI: Grabara, Diks, Vavro, Claesson (C) (Cornelius 55), Mattsson (Larsson 81), Diogo (Hojlund 70), Elyounoussi, Jelert, McKenna, Achouri (Sorensen 81), Falk

Subs: Runarrsson, Buur, Oskarsson, Ankersen, Meling, Clem, Roony, Froholdt

Man of the match

Bernardo Silva is our selection.

Always industrious and with one of the most trustworthy first touches in world football, Bernardo is tailor-made for away matches in the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola trusts our playmaker immensely and more often than not he’s rewarded with a faultless performance.

His team-mates also see exactly that, knowing they can give the ball to Bernardo in any position and rely on him to keep it.

The 29-year-old isn’t the most prolific when it comes to goals and assists, but when he does make the scoresheet it’s always worth watching.

His finish here was the best of Bernardo down to a tee. The energy to find himself in a dangerous area, the level head to react calmly to a fortunate ricochet and the skill of the flick to score from an incredibly tight angle.

Men's Team

De Bruyne delighted after Copenhagen victory

Unbeatable

The UEFA Champions League is the gold standard for club football anywhere in the world.

To have gone 20 matches in the competition since our last defeat demonstrates the level Pep Guardiola’s Champions of the World are operating at.

We won eight and drew five of the fixtures required to lift last season’s trophy before coming out on the right side of the result in all seven matches so far this campaign.

This side’s ability to earn a result in all circumstances is perhaps the defining factor in our monumental trophy haul of recent years.

Men's Team

We knew difficulty of FC Copenhagen challenge, says Guardiola

Pep Guardiola reaction

“We played really, really good. It was the right tempo,” said Pep.

“They are a really difficult team. That’s why the third goal helped us a lot to manage the game more there.

“We know each other better now so they will prepare something but we will prepare something too.

“The first game of the last-16 is always dangerous but the players behaved and performed really good again.” 

Kevin De Bruyne reaction

“Obviously it’s tough. We played here a couple of times and the atmosphere is great and they’re going to try to do everything.

“They had a great group stage too so we had to respect them.

“We started really well, we made one mistake and they pounced on it.

“I think we actually played a really good game.

“I think the second half we created many chances and we could have scored more, luckily in the end we scored the third one so it is a little bit of an advantage now.”

What it means

City take a commanding lead into the second leg of our Round of 16 tie. We welcome the Danish champions to the Etihad Stadium for the return match on Wednesday 6 March.

It is our first victory away from home in the knockout stages of the Champions League since the 5-0 defeat Sporting CP in 2021/22.

We have gone 20 matches unbeaten in the Champions League and won 10 games in Europe in a row, including the penalty shootout win over Sevilla.

What’s next

City return to the Etihad Stadium this weekend with Chelsea the visitors in the Premier League.

We face Mauricio Pochettino’s side at 17:30 (UK) on Saturday 17 February.