Manchester City cruised to a 4-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday, driven by a brace from Phil Foden and a goal from Erling Haaland against his former club. The win strengthens Pep Guardiola’s side in the league phase, lifting them to fourth in the table with 10 points after four of the eight league-phase games. Dortmund, meanwhile, fell to 14th on seven points.
England international Phil Foden opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when he collected a pass from Tijjani Reijnders and finished with a crisp left-footed strike from just outside the box. Haaland doubled the lead only seven minutes later, finishing coolly from the centre of the box after a flash run and assist from Jeremy Doku. Foden completed his double in the 57th minute with a curling shot inside the far post, again linking up with Reijnders.
Haaland's goal maintained his form, taking his tally for club and country this season to 27 goals in 17 games. His strike also secured yet another record: he is the first player to score in five consecutive Champions League games for three different clubs (RB Salzburg, Dortmund, and City). Foden's performance, which Guardiola described by saying, "Phil is back. How many times have we seen Phil score these type of goals? We miss this a lot last season but this season I think he is going to help us a lot," also enhanced the 25-year-old's claim for an England recall.
Borussia Dortmund, who came into the clash having won only one of their seven prior meetings with City, staged a brief rally. Waldemar Anton pulled one back for the Bundesliga club from a set-piece in the 72nd minute to the delight of the travelling fans. However, substitute Rayan Cherki ensured the three-goal advantage was restored, netting a late fourth goal in injury time. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel had a busy night, making a total of eight saves as Dortmund were outplayed for large periods.
Manchester City remains unbeaten in their opening four Champions League matches and is now seemingly on course for comfortable progress to the knockout stages, a contrast to their struggles last season when they exited in the play-off round. Head coach Pep Guardiola acknowledged a brief period of instability: "For the first 10 or 15 minutes, we didn't know where we were. But after that, it was better."
