Two early goals ensure City go safely through
KEVIN DE BRUYNE and Ilkay Gundogan struck early as Manchester City eased into the Champions League quarterfinals at the expense of Borussia Monchengladbach.
The pair netted in the opening 18 minutes of the second leg of the last-16 tie in Budapest, securing a 2-0 victory and wrapping up a comfortable 4-0 aggregate success for Pep Guardiola’s quadruple-chasing side.
De Bruyne set City on their way at the Puskas Arena with a stunning long-range strike after 12 minutes before Gundogan tucked away his 15th goal of the season after a fine run by Phil Foden.
The result kept City’s bid for four trophies firmly on track, although tougher tests will lie ahead in Europe as they return to the quarter-final stage that has proved their undoing in the past three seasons.
The Premier League leaders were dominant in the first leg at the same venue and it was clear from early on a similar story would play out second time around.
The Bundesliga side had lost their previous six games – all since it was announced coach Marco Rose would be leaving for rivals Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season – and they never looked like reversing that trend.
Real Madrid secured their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Atalanta.
The LaLiga side had been 1-0
up from the first leg and Karim Benzema fired Madrid ahead on the night in the 34th minute.
A penalty from captain Sergio Ramos on the hour all but
ended the tie, with Luis Muriel clipping in a fine free-kick to pull a goal back for Atalanta before substitute Marco Asensio wrapped things up late on.