A Manchester City mistake gave Copenhagen some hope of an upset win, but the visitors ultimately prevailed 3-1 in their UEFA Champions League clash.
It marked the first away win for Manchester City at Parken Stadium.
The visitors opened the scoring just over 10 minutes into the match courtesy of Kevin De Bruyne, whose shot across the face of the goal split defenders and eluded the goalkeeper.
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It wasn’t long before Copenhagen got themselves on the board when a clumsy sequence of play opened the door for Magnus Mattsson.
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson’s wayward pass gifted his opponents a golden chance, and although he looked to have cleaned up his mistake with a save, the rebound fell to Mattsson, who came tearing in to fire the ball into the corner of the goal.
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“That gave them real hope, but it was more from the mistake from Ederson who’s done his job for the worldwide TV audience to keep everyone interested in this game,” said Stan Sport commentator Mark Bosnich.
“It really is a credit to Copenhagen that somehow they kept themselves in this game. Of course, it’s also one of the beauties of our sport, regardless of the dominance if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net, these are the types of things that can happen. It gave them a lifeline, a little bit of hope. Absolutely tremendous finish.”
Copenhagen looked like they might go into the half-time break at one goal apiece only for Bernardo Silva to slot a second Manchester City goal in the 45th minute.
Manchester City threatened throughout the second half to score and in two minutes of added time they sealed a 3-1 win thanks to Phil Foden.
In the morning’s other match, RB Leipzig were beaten by Real Madrid in a tight contest, 1-0.
Leipzig had an early goal disallowed after Benjamin Henrichs pushed the goalkeeper and was deemed offside for impeding.
It was Brahim Diaz who scored Real Madrid’s sole goal in the 48th minute, imitating the man he replaced in the side with his celebrations.
Diaz jogged to the sideline before stretching his arms wide open towards the crowd in similar style to Jude Bellingham, who remains sidelined with a sprained ankle.
“I really like Jude, from the moment he arrived we’ve been getting along,” said Diaz.
“I’m helping him with his Spanish, he is a world-class talent and we are enjoying having him around. He is a great person as well, and I’m very thankful to him.
“I saw they were afraid of coming after me,” Diaz said of the opposition.
“I’m happy to have helped with the goal, and with with how the team worked hard to make up for the absence of Jude and the other injured players.
“It showed that we are still a good team, that we are Real Madrid.”
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In a cruel twist of irony, Diaz himself fell to injury late in the match with an apparent calf issue.
The round of 16 continues on Thursday with Paris Saint-Germain hosting Real Sociedad and SS Lazio facing FC Bayern Munich.