Haaland continues his insane form with another goal

With in-form Erling Haaland and considering Villarreal‘s fantastic start of the season (third in La Liga), few football experts could have predicted that the match between these clubs will be the game with fewest goals in Tuesday‘s round of the Champions League, but so it was: Villarreal – Manchester City 0-2. A modest result considering a festival of goals which occured in other games, where there were six or more goals happened in four games. But Pep Guardiola won‘t mind as he only set his mind on a comfortable away win an three more points and that‘s exactly what happened.

Erling Haaland continued his fantastic scoring streak and has now found the net in each of his last 12 games for club and country, racking up 22 goals in those fixtures. Guardiola rested Phil Foden among four changes to his starting line-up from the win against Everton at the weekend, as City ended a year-long winless run on the road in Europe. Haaland headed a Silva cross wide early on as City took control of the game and began to find gaps in Villarreal's defence, with Savinho looking bright. Rico Lewis helped create the opener for Haaland after 17 minutes, cutting the ball back at the end of a neat move for the striker to blast home from six yards out.

Spanish side Villarreal, third in La Liga, began to etch a foothold in the game but City managed to grab their second before half-time to kill their momentum. Savinho crossed for the unmarked Silva to nod past Brazilian stopper Luiz Junior to effectively seal the game. City lost midfielder Nico Gonzalez to an injury before the hour mark in one of the few negatives of the night for the visitors, particularly with key midfielder Rodri Hernandez also sidelined. The English side cruised through the second half until the final 20 minutes when Villarreal began to threaten. City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made a good save from Nicola Pepe's drive, and then the Ivorian forward headed wide. Pepe also volleyed over as City were able to shut out the hosts. At the other end, Haaland's fierce strike was well fielded by Luiz Junior. Marcelino Garcia Toral's side are without a win in Europe this season, with just one point from their first three matches.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 3

Tuesday

Barcelona - Olympiacos 6-1 (2-0)

/Fermin Lopez 7, 39, 76, Yamal 68 pen, Rashford 74, 79 - El Kaabi 54 pen/

Kairat - Pafos 0-0

Arsenal - Atletico Madrid 4-0 (0-0)

/Gabriel 57, Martinelli 64, Gyokeres 67, 70/

Copenhagen - Dortmund 2-4 (1-1)

/Anton 34 og, Dadason 90+1 - Nmecha 20, 77, Bensebaini 61 pen, Silva 87/

Leverkusen - PSG 2-7 (1-4)

/Garcia 38 pen, 54 - Pacho 7, Doue 41, 45+3, Kvaratskhelia 44, Mendes 50, Dembele 66, Vitinha 90/

Newcastle - Benfica 3-0 (1-0)

/Gordon 32, Barnes 71, 83/

PSV - Napoli 6-2 (2-1)

/Buongiorno 35 og, Saibari 39, Man 54, 80, Pepi 87, Driouech 89 - McTominay 31, 86/

St. Gilloise - Inter 0-4 (0-2)

/Dumfries 41, Lautaro 45+1, Calhanoglu 53 pen, Esposito 76/

Villarreal - Manchester City 0-2 (0-2)

/Haaland 17, Silva 40/