City’s mission was relatively simple - win to give themselves a fighting chance of finishing in the top eight. Pep Guardiola’s charges wasted no time in getting on the front foot and took an early lead through their regular source.
Jérémy Doku proved to be the creator-in-chief in the move, threading an inch-perfect pass through for Erling Haaland who dinked over Uğurcan Çakır and into the net.
City knew that with goals flying in around Europe and the permutations constantly changing, they could ill afford to let up, something Nico O’Reilly took literally when his stinging drive forced Çakır into a fine one-handed save.
It didn’t take the Cityzens too much longer to double their advantage with Doku once again at the heart of it, cutting the ball back for Rayan Cherki who took one touch to set himself before hammering beyond Çakır with his second.
Galatasaray themselves were sitting a little uncomfortably in the top 24 at half time, but with this game seemingly already beyond them at the break, their qualification hopes lied in the shortcomings of those around them in the table.
The Turkish side were much improved after the break, but with a mountain to climb to get back into the game, it was going to take a minor miracle for Galatasaray to get their fate back into their own hands.
Aside from a Gabriel Sara blocked shot though, they offered precious little to concern City, but having done all they could to secure their spot in the top eight, a swing in results had City peering anxiously over their shoulder towards the chasing pack.
Rayan Aït-Nouri came close to rounding the game off when he was denied by Çakır from point-blank range, but a third goal was immaterial to City’s cause.
The closing stages for Guardiola were rather tense as he and his staff anxiously checked the scores elsewhere to ensure they weren’t going to be caught, and fortunately they weren’t, meaning they avoided the lottery of the knockout play-off round they were dumped out at last season.
Galatasaray managed to cling onto their top-24 berth, meaning they’ll go into the play-offs as an unseeded side.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rayan Aït-Nouri (Manchester City)