First-half goals from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki gave Manchester City a 2-0 win over Galatasaray and booked a place in the Champions League Round of 16.
City appeared to be cruising through after an impressive December win at Real Madrid, but last week's shocking 3-1 defeat at Bodo/Glimt left them as one of an astonishing eight sides locked together on 13 points. It meant only victory would do.
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Haaland had just one goal — a penalty against Brighton & Hove Albion — in his past nine appearances across all competitions heading into Wednesday's game and wasted a glorious headed chance from Rayan Ait-Nouri's third-minute cross.
But he made amends shortly afterwards when Jeremy Doku bypassed Galatasaray's high line with a sumptuous through ball and Haaland coolly dinked over visiting goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.
Doku was the creator once again before the half hour when he teed up Cherki to steer into the bottom-left corner. Unfortunately, the Belgium attacker's evening was curtailed shortly afterwards following a challenge from Davinson Sanchez.
Omar Marmoush, Ait-Nouri and substitutes Phil Foden and Tijjani Reijnders all spurned opportunities to make City's night more comfortable. But they finished it as the last of four teams on 16 points, in that all-important eighth position and avoiding Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid's fate of dropping into the elimination playoffs.
MORE: Why Bodo/Glimt humiliation might be City's worst moment under Pep Guardiola
Man City vs. Galatasaray score
| Fulltime | Goalscorers | |
| Man City | 2 | Haaland 10', Cherki 29' |
| Galatasaray | 0 | _ |
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester (UK)
Referee: Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez (Spain)
Man City vs. Galatasaray stats
| Man City | Stat | Galatasaray |
| 10 | Shots | 6 |
| 5 | Shots on target | 5 |
| 1.64 | Expected goals | 0.22 |
| 56% | Possession | 44% |
| 506 | Passes | 441 |
| 4 | Corners | 4 |
| 7 | Fouls | 10 |
| 0 | Yellow cards | 1 |
| 1 | Offsides | 4 |
Man City vs. Galatasaray talking points, analysis
Haaland back out of his box
When Ait-Nouri's pinpoint cross from the left flank arced toward Haaland, City's big No. 9 would have been forgiven for licking his lips. Having not found the net from open play in 2026, he was sure to open the scoring. When he sent the header wide with all of the goal to aim at, Haaland slammed the turf, perhaps hoping it might open up and swallow him.
There was briefly the strange sensation of wondering when the most prolific striker of his generation might score again. The answer was in about seven minutes. Haaland's finish from Doku's excellent pass was not one of a man low on confidence.
The Norway superstar's seasons at City have all followed relatively similar patterns. He flies out of the gate like a downhill skier, finds the going relatively tougher as the games and fatigue pile up in mid-season, before weighing in with important strikes down the stretch.
The perfect start 🌟 pic.twitter.com/xSrSkfCc1I
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 28, 2026
It was a concern earlier in the campaign that City were far too dependent on Haaland as a goals source. But Cherki scored his eighth in all competitions here, and the 4-2-2-2 formation that Guardiola first used to compensate for losing Haaland to injury last season was wheeled out with him in it.
It meant Marmoush — busy in his movement as ever but disappointing with the ball — offered a twin threat alongside the striker, with Cherki and Doku playing as inside-forwards in old money. Ait-Nouri and the excellent Matheus Nunes, on the other side at right-back, provided the width.
It's a system that still looks vulnerable in transition too often but, at a time when teams have become pretty adept at thwarting Guardiola's traditional positional and possession-based style, it ensures schemers like Doku, Cherki and Foden can still get into those attacking pockets where they do so much damage. Against Galatasaray, it also meant Haaland wasn't isolated and out of the goals.
Doku's injury curse strikes again
When Marmoush spent a couple of months on the sidelines earlier in the season, Doku ended up playing a few games almost alongside Haaland in the 4-2-2-2, rather than being stationed out on the left wing.
The Belgium international enjoyed the freedom and produced standout performances in wins over Liverpool and Real Madrid. He hobbled out of the latter game with an injury and has worked hard to get back towards top form.
It's been there in glimpses but, as City's recent derby defeat to Manchester United showed, Doku is still susceptible to being shown down blind alleys of ineffectiveness out on the wing.
Playing on the top-left corner of Guardiola's midfield box, Doku was in position to do Galatasaray damage time and again as he set up both goals, was a constant menace in possession and notably snapped in to win a couple of second balls in midfield.
It was a galling throwback to see the most creative player on the pitch effectively kicked out of the game before halftime. Doku has been frequently interrupted by injuries throughout his career, and it is hoped this will be just a brief pause in his latest upward trajectory. Guardiola later confirmed a calf injury for his player.
Galatasaray's Manchester invasion
In some ways, it was a case of roles reversed. At the 2023 Champions League final, City fans descended on Istanbul in their tens of thousands and drank the bars of Nevizade Street dry. But that was for a final under scorching summer sun. This was Manchester in dank midwinter for a league-phase game.
Galatasaray's army of fans, both travelling and from Manchester's Turkish diaspora, were a boisterous presence from the early afternoon in Shambles Square in the city centre. Despite the club's best efforts in terms of sales criteria, there were also visibly plenty of Galatasaray fans in the home end. A smart save from Gianluigi Donnarumma to deny Victor Osimhen in the second half meant we avoided finding out how testy it might have become. City having nine ticket resale sites as official club partners should once again come under the spotlight.
An on-field demonstration from Kurdish protesters held up the game shortly after halftime, while a flare thrown from the away end into the third tier of the South Stand thankfully did not appear to cause any injury. Some City supporters replied to that by singing "you're just a s*** Fenerbahce" and an evening that at times threatened something a little darker concluded in relatively good humour.
A few Galatasaray in town pic.twitter.com/mczqsK0V04
— Dom Farrell (@DomFarrell1986) January 28, 2026
Man City vs. Galatasaray lineups, team news
Erling Haaland returned to the City line-up after being benched for the 2-0 win over Wolves. He joined Omar Marmoush in attack after the Egypt forward's goalscoring contribution at the weekend.
Phil Foden remained among the substitutes and Nico Gonzalez was only fit enough for a place on the bench. That meant Nico O'Reilly joined Bernardo Silva in central midfield and Rayan Ait-Nouri started outside Nathan Ake at left-back.
Rodri was suspended following his red card at Bodo/Glimt.
Man City starting XI (4-2-2-2 right to left): Donnarumma (GK) — Nunes, Khusanov, Ake, Ait-Nouri — Silva, O'Reilly— Cherki, Doku — Haaland, Marmoush
Man City subs: Trafford (GK), Bettinelli (GK), Reijnders, Nico, Foden, Gray, Mukasa, Alleyne, Lewis, Mfuni
Victor Osimhen led the line for Galatasaray in a battle of the star strikers.
Ilkay Gundogan captained the visitors on his return to the Etihad Stadium, while Leroy Sane also started against his former club.
Galatasaray starting XI (3-4-2-1, right to left): Ugurcan Cakir (GK) — Sallai, Sanchez, Abdulkerim Bardakci, Jakobs — Gabriel Sara, Lemina — Baris Alper Yilmaz, Gundogan, Sane — Osimhen
Galatasaray subs: Batuhan Sen (GK), Gunay Guvenc (GK), Singo, Icardi, Torreira, Eyup Karasu, Yusuf Kahraman, Kaan Ayhan, Furkan Kocak, Yunus Akgun. Eren Elmali, Ahmed Kutucu
Man City vs. Galatasaray reaction
Guardiola rued City's wastefulness after halftime, especially because ending with a lower goal difference than Barcelona, Chelsea and Sporting CP left them vulnerable to dropping into the playoffs.
"The first half, we were better than the second; the second, we had more chances than the first. A lot of things to improve. I'm really pleased to finish in the top eight, considering the competition the Champions League is today. Every team is really, really tough. Considering how many top teams are out of the top eight, you know how difficult it is.
"We had four, five, six clear chances to score more goals. It would not have been a problem [to qualify] but in the end it was one or two goals difference."
Benfica defeating Real Madrid was the result that put City over the top. Guardiola's old foe Jose Mourinho sent goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin up to head home a free-kick, making the score 4-2 and edging the Portuguese giants into the playoffs at Marseille's expense.
"Yes, of course," Guardiola replied when asked if he would send a message of thanks to Mourinho. "We were all there [in the dressing room] and didn't know Benfica needed another goal to qualify. That's why, at 3-2 when the keeper goes up, we're saying 'why do you go?!' Because Madrid can equalise and after that we were out.
"But it was a good strategy for Jose, right?"
Next games for Man City vs. Galatasaray
Manchester City return to Premier League action with a trip to Tottenham on Sunday, February 1.
On the same day, Galatasaray host Kayserispor in the Turkish Super Lig.