MANCHESTER CITY may have got a helping hand from the man in the mask.
But there was no disguising their superiority as they swept to a 10th straight win in the Champions League.
Manchester cruised their way into the Champions League quarter-finals
They comfortably beat Copenhagen 3-1
Former Liverpool keeper Kamil Grabara was left red faced as he fumbled a cross shot from Julian Alvarez into his net early on.
Yet luckily for the Pole his face was covered up – so his blushes were spared.
What would Pep Guardiola give for a clanger like that from one of the current Reds squad in Sunday’s title showdown at Anfield?
At least his team will make the short journey down the M62 to their bogey ground full of confidence – and in many cases fully rested.
Because many of his stars who put Manchester United to the sword on Sunday were given an evening off to prepare.
Erling Haaland wasn’t one of them – he still feels fresh after a two month injury break in his season and played 88 minutes .
Needless to say the Norwegian got the goal you almost expect from him in this competition to take his tally for the season to 29.
If the first leg in Denmark three weeks ago was a walk in The Parken – then this was more of a meander.
Phil Foden’s goal in stoppage time in Denmark had pretty much put this last 16 tie beyond any doubt.
It made this second leg a formality but that was no bad thing for Pep Guardiola as it fell between key Prem matches against Manchester United and Liverpool.
He was able to make seven changes – fielding the club’s second youngest side ever in this competition.
Yet the understudies clearly fancied it as they blew away any lingering doubts inside the first 10 minutes.
Less than five had passed when Alvarez – back on set pieces with Kevin De Bruyne on the bench – curled a corner from the right.
Defender Manuel Akanji swung his right boot at it and his effort fizzed into the top corner.
The Swiss was a team-mate of Haaland at Borussia Dortmund as well as here at City and it was a finish the Norwegian would have been proud of.
Grabara never saw that one – but he had no excuses for the nightmare he endured shortly afterwards.
Rodri directed his header against the bar but the rebound fell to Alvarez out on the left flank.
The Argentine fizzed over a cross shot that should have been straight down the throat of the Polish keeper – but he somehow let it squirm through his hands.
Alvarez seemed almost embarrassed as he ran off celebrating while there was no hiding place for Grabara.
Copenhagen’s Scotland international Scott McKenna must have been fearing the worst at that point.
On his last trip here – with Nottingham Forest in 2022 – he was on the wrong end of a 6-0 hiding.
Yet with their passage to the quarter finals secure for seventh straight season, City took their foot off the gas.
It was always going to be a huge ask for the Danes – who came straight off their winter break into the clash with the holders last month.
But their fans were determined to enjoy themselves and just before the half hour they got the goal they craved.
Former Southampton forward Mohammed Elyounoussi ran onto a clever flick from Orri Oskarsson and finished clinically past Ederson.
That was their first ever goal in the knock-out stages of this competition – so at least they had made a little bit of history.
Elyounoussi is an international team-mate of Haaland and maybe the City forward was feeling a bit left out.
Because first half stoppage time he plucked a pass from Rodri out of the night air, drifted past McKenna before wrong-footing Grabara from the edge of the box.
That made it 29 for the season for the £51.4 million forward – and don’t forget he missed two months of it due to a foot injury.
It was also his 41st goal in a competition he loves so much – equalling the tally of a certain Sergio Aguero, who didn’t do too badly around these parts.
Erling Haaland scored his 29th goal of the season
Guardiola’s men have scored three or more in nine straight Champions League home matches now – nobody will fancy coming here in the last eight.
Rodri had done enough to extend his personal unbeaten run to 60 and at half-time he was given a well earned breather by Guardiola.
To be fair the Spaniard didn’t miss much – Ederson made a flying save to deny sub Magnus Mattson – while Oscar Bobb’s deflected shot hit the bar.
Meanwhile City’s summer signing Matheus Nunes was forced off with what looked an extremely sore dislocated finger
Matheus Nunes was substituted after dislocating his finger
But otherwise it was as comfortable as you could have wished for City – to prepare for their biggest game of the season.