Gundogan fires double as City put one foot in the quarter-finals with easy win

Ilkay Gundogan scored twice as Manchester City virtually assured their place in the Champions League quarterfinals with an emphatic 4-0 win over Basel. In-form Sergio Aguero scored his 198th City goal and Bernardo Silva also got on the scoresheet as Pep Guardiola’s side cruised to victory on a freezing night at St Jakob-park.

Most of the damage was done as City rattled in three goals in a blistering nine-minute spell early in the first half, dashing Basel’s hopes of causing an upset after a bright start.

Gundogan, pictured, struck a sublime second after the break but the Premier League leaders were cruising by then, having eased off to conserve energy in their continuing quadruple quest. Kevin De Bruyne was removed from the action early and Guardiola also eased Leroy Sane back into the fray as a second-half substitute following his rapid recovery from an ankle injury.

City went ahead after 14 minutes when Gundogan, who had already tested Tomas Vaclik early on, met a De Bruyne corner with a firm header at the near post. A second goal quickly followed as Raheem Sterling’s cross from the left was cleared only as far as Bernardo Silva by Leo Lacroix. With time and space to compose himself, the Portuguese allowed the ball to drop before hitting a firm half-volley past Vaclik. The visitors were now rampant and the tie soon seemed as a good as over as Aguero let fly from outside the area for his 29th goal of the season. The Argentine’s powerful shot rocketed into the bottom corner.

Basel started the second half well, with Mohamed Elyounoussi testing Ederson from distance and Dimitri Oberlin dragging a shot across the face of goal, but they remained vulnerable to City’s attack.

Gundogan put City even further in front after 53 minutes when he wrong-footed the defence and fired a superb curling shot beyond Vaclik from the edge of the penalty area.

He should have completed a hat-trick after being teed up by Aguero in the latter stages but Vaclik saved.