Manchester City made light work of Galatasaray to sneak into the top eight of the Champions League, with two first-half goals from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki securing the win that ultimately spared Pep Guardiola's side a two-legged knockout playoff in February.
City's fate was not confirmed until almost 10 minutes after the final whistle. Anatoliy Trubin's 98th-minute header completed a 4-2 win for Benfica over Real Madrid at the Estadio da Luz, a result that kept Real behind City and edged Guardiola's team into eighth and direct qualification for the last 16.
Haaland Ends His Open-Play Drought
City should have led inside the opening three minutes when Rayan Ait-Nouri delivered a pin-point cross from the left, only for Haaland to head wide from eight yards out under no pressure. The Norwegian made amends on 10 minutes, sprinting on to Jeremy Doku's through ball before dinking a delightful finish over the onrushing Ugurcan Cakir.