Five talking points as City seal knockout place with routine Young Boys win

Manchester City breezed through to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 3-0 home victory over 10-man Young Boys.

Erling Haaland scored either side of a Phil Foden solo strike before City's dominance was compounded by Sandro Lauper's second-half dismissal for the visitors.

Here are all the talking points from the Etihad following a comfortable evening for Pep Guardiola's men.

Relentless Pep

With the games coming thick and fast and qualification from the group all but sewn up, Guardiola still opted to play many of his big hitters against the Swiss underdogs.

The likes of Haaland, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden all started as the Catalan coach's strive to be ruthless on all fronts was on show once again.

City's superiority was evident from that moment and any hopes of a shock in East Manchester were extinguished from the moment Haaland slotted home the opener from the spot.

Fantastic Phil

Foden has made an excellent start to the campaign and his solo effort on the stroke of half-time was a sight to behold.

After bringing down a cross-field pass on the right, the boyhood Citizen made it look easy as he sublimely took on his man before slotting into the far corner past the goalkeeper.

Having surprisingly found himself out of Guardiola's set of regulars last term, Foden proved once again that when he is on the pitch, few are more capable than the Stockport-born ace.

Jack's missed opportunity

Jeremy Doku's scintillating performance against Bournemouth heaped the pressure on Jack Grealish to make a similar impact after being handed a start on the left.

Grealish, 28, was a threat but struggled to find that killer touch — albeit the England man could easily have ended the night with an assist had his team-mates buried chances on a number of occasions.

While hardly a poor night for the former Aston Villa man, he may see tonight as a missed opportunity following Doku's four-assist masterclass.

And the Belgian's lively cameo in the closing stages was another reminder of the challenge Grealish has on his hands for a starting spot.

Haaland shows his range

Haaland has earned a reputation as a penalty-box merchant during his time at City but he scored from outside the box for just the fourth time since joining the club — but the second time in three home games.

Early in the second half, the 23-year-old took time to manoeuvre the space the shoot before arrowing home from the edge of the box.

Having done similar in the Premier League against Brighton, the Norwegian scoring sensation proved there are yet more ways he can put his opposition to the sword.

City's fire still burns

The evening kicked off with a stunning light show celebrating City's historic Treble-winning 2022-23 campaign and there were no signs of a team resting on their laurels once the game kicked off.

While some of their Premier League counterparts struggle in the competition, City made a potentially tricky encounter look remarkably easy once again.

Guardiola's team has a new look to it this term with the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan no longer there and that fresh feel is perhaps what is keeping the European champions' fire burning so bright.