City thrash Dortmund 4-1 Foden Haaland shine in Champions League

Manchester City secured a dominant 4-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund at the Etihad Stadium, moving to 10 points from four Champions League group games, while Dortmund dropped to 14th with seven points.

City, the 2023 Champions League winners, controlled the match from the start. Phil Foden opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, finishing a precise pass from Tijjani Reijnders. Seven minutes later, Erling Haaland, who now has 27 goals in 17 games for club and country, doubled the lead with a clinical finish after a brilliant assist from Jeremy Doku.

Foden completed his brace in the 57th minute with a curling strike, marking his first multi-goal performance in a Champions League game. "Happy it's not just Erling scoring goals," Guardiola said. "Phil was just fantastic."

Dortmund pulled one back through Waldemar Anton’s free kick in the 72nd minute, delighting travelling supporters. However, City put the result beyond doubt with an injury-time goal from Rayan Cherki.

City dominated the stats with nine shots on target to Dortmund’s one, controlling tempo and exploiting the flanks through Doku and Savinho. Savinho narrowly missed a spectacular volley in the second half.

Dortmund coach Niko Kovac acknowledged City’s superiority: "They played a very clean style of football and deserved to win."

Haaland extended his Champions League scoring streak to five consecutive games, becoming the first player to score in five straight matches for three clubs—City, Dortmund, and Red Bull Salzburg.

Doku praised Haaland’s overall contribution: "He scored just one goal but is so much more than goals and assists. He provides so much and is so important."