Villarreal 0-2 Man City: Haaland & Silva score to seal 3 points comfortably

Erling Haaland found the net for a 12th consecutive game to maintain his incredible goalscoring streak and help Manchester City end their winless away run in the Champions League with victory at Villarreal.

Match Report

Pep Guardiola’s side dominated from the off, squandering two chances inside the opening three minutes. Savinho first squared for Jeremy Doku, who failed to make clean contact, before Erling Haaland glanced a header just wide moments later.

Still, it took only 17 minutes for City to take the lead, as Rico Lewis picked out Haaland with a superb cut-back pass on the edge of the six-yard-box, and the Norwegian made no mistake from close range.

Villarreal’s best opening of the half came through Pape Gueye, who saw a thumping effort fly narrowly wide before Bernardo Silva doubled City’s advantage five minutes before the break, planting a clinical header past Luiz Junior off Savinho’s set-up.

Savinho continued his dazzling performance as he came close to adding a third, dancing through the box before forcing Junior into a low, diving save.

City then received a huge let-off in the closing stages as the hosts squandered a number of chances, with Nicolas Pepe first heading wide from close range before sending a powerful volley just over the bar.

At the other end, Haaland twice stung Junior’s palms as he chased a second, while Tani Oluwaseyi struck the post in stoppage time to cap Villarreal’s frustration.

The win lifts City to fifth in the standings, level on seven points with Borussia Dortmund, while Villarreal remain winless in the Champions League and sit 29th in the table.

Data debrief: Haaland’s happy hot streak rolls on

Haaland, so often Manchester City’s biggest goal threat, has now scored in each of his last nine games in all competitions.

Only between August and October 2022 (10 games) has the Norwegian enjoyed a longer run in his top-flight club career.

Villarreal and City created comparable chances on Tuesday, with Marcelino’s side generating 1.42 expected goals (xG), while Guardiola’s men managed 1.5 xG, their clinical finishing ultimately proving the difference between the two sides.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

1' Savinho tries to feed it back to Jeremy Doku but Villarreal clear the effort

4' Haaland leaps highest from Silva's cross but he can't get his header on target

7' Good defending from Nunes to prevent Mikautadze getting a shot in the box

17' It's him again! Haaland smashes home from Lewis' cross! Villarreal 0-1 Man City

22' Bernardo Silva goes into the book for a foul

29' Gueye has a go from range but it doesn't trouble Donnarumma

31' Foyth puts the ball straight to the path of Doku but the hosts clear the danger

40' GOAL! Savinho delivers a cross for Silva to double lead! Villarreal 0-2 Man City

56' Nico Gonzalez is going to come off for injury as Kovacic replaces him

64' Savinho manages to get the shot away but it's parried away by Luiz Junior

66' Dias goes into the book for a foul on the keeper

71' Donnarumma makes a good save from Gueye before Pepe's header wide

77' Nicolas Pepe snatches at the ball and it blazes over the bar

80' Haaland makes gliding run and gets the shot away but it's a decent save by Luiz

83' Match Event for Villarreal vs Man City

86' Erling Haaland and Savinho make way for Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki

Line-ups

Villarreal XI: Partey, Pepe, Pedraza, Santi Comesaña, Foyth, Pape Gueye, Buchanan, Georges Mikautadze, Luiz Júnior, Renato Veiga, Santiago Mouriño

Subs: Parejo, G. Moreno, Ayoze Perez, Manor Solomon, Arnau Tenas, Diego Conde, Adrià Altimira, Sergi Cardona, Rafa Marín, Alberto Moleiro, Ilias Akhomach, Tani Oluwaseyi

Man City XI: Stones, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Donnarumma, Haaland, Matheus Nunes, Nico González, Doku, Gvardiol, Lewis, Savinho

Subs: Kovacic, Ake, Bettinelli, Foden, Omar Marmoush, Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri, James Trafford, Cherki, Bobb, Nico O'Reilly