To channel Bjørge Lillelien and his famous commentary on Norway’s win against England in 1981: Pep Guardiola, your Manchester City boys took a heck of a beating here on the shores of the Norwegian Sea, below the skies of the aurora borealis, and on the Aspmyra Stadion’s artificial pitch graced by this immortal Bodø/Glimt victory which downed a continental superpower.
Jonas Gahr Støre was present to witness a win that came courtesy of Kasper Høgh’s two first-half goals plus Jens Petter Hauge’s curled peach after the interval, as Norway’s prime minister escaped Donald Trump’s curious obsession with the Nobel peace prize: another measure of how this result will never be forgotten.
To comprehend Bodø’s triumph, think Macclesfield’s FA Cup third‑round knockout of the holders, Crystal Palace; Guardiola’s team are not the European champions but they were three years ago, the same season they claimed a historic treble.
“We have to come back due to the feeling that results in 2026 are not good – in terms of the Premier League and today,” Guardiola said. “We have four days until Wolves [in the league] and then Galatasaray. We have the feeling that everything is going wrong in many details and we have to try to change.”
City have yet to record a league win in this calendar year and this painful reverse leaves them on 13 points in the Champions League before Galatasaray’s visit next week to close out the league phase. For them, entering the last 16 directly is left in the balance. Bodø/Glimt’s most famous scalp gives them six points, keeping alive their dream of making the playoffs.
In 2017 Bodø played in Norway’s second tier, but by last year – having never won the championship – they were the four-in-a-row Eliteserien victors under Kjetil Knutsen. The former teacher said: “It’s big for us to beat one of the best in the world. All the fans are happy, a day they will remember for the rest of their lives – a great day for a small club like Bodø/Glimt.
“We all had to pull up our sleeves – that was our motto. City weren’t very physical. Tottenham was more physical [in the Europa League last season]. But no celebrations – we are in pre-season. That is off the table.”
His men went close to a dream start. Bodø broke and Høgh, then Ole Didrik Blomberg, shot. City replied almost immediately. This time a Rayan Cherki snapshot was saved low by Nikita Haikin; Phil Foden dropped the resulting corner towards Max Alleyne’s head yet with a gaping goal he failed to connect. Erling Haaland – brought up in Byrne, about 1,800km south of here – was next put in along a right-hand channel but the No 9’s chip was gathered by Haikin.
Salford secured an FA Cup fourth-round visit to the Etihad Stadium with a 3-2 home win against Swindon. The hosts took a 2-0 lead with goals in the 11th and 52nd minute from Ryan Graydon on debut. Ollie Palmer pulled one back for the visitors in the 55th minute before James Ball equalised with half an hour left. Luke Garbutt, the Salford captain, curled in the 68th-minute winner from a free-kick 25 yards out. Swindon’s Ryan Tafazolli thought he had made it 3-3 late on but his strike was disallowed for a foul.
Bodø showed how to finish – twice – through carbon‑copy moves. Each time City’s defence was exposed down its left, where Alleyne and Nico O’Reilly allowed Blomberg to scoop over crosses. Høgh’s first finish was a header, from a tight angle, to the left of goal. The second was more central, a little further out, and as composed, with his right boot.
Cue bedlam from all inside the 8,000-capacity Aspmyra Stadion, minus the 404 travelling faithful who were as stunned as Guardiola was anguished. He had offered a no‑excuses line regarding the surface and the plunging temperatures; for this fishing village 80km north of the Arctic Circle the -1C at kick-off was actually temperate.
When Sven Jablonski blew for half-time, Rodri’s moan to the German referee was emblematic of the state City were in – Bodø’s 31% possession telling the tale of their smash-and-grab act.
Guardiola made zero adjustments, then watched Rodri aim a diagonal straight to a yellow shirt that caused him more despair. After Tijjani Reijnders’ effort went weakly into Haikin’s gloves, Bodø swarmed forward. Only Gianluigi Donnarumma’s leg thwarted Håkon Evjen, then the offside flag – correctly – denied Høgh his hat-trick. City were flat, bereft of spark, and when Hauge ghosted past a flailing Rodri, the finish beyond Donnarumma rocketed into the top-right corner, Bodø entered fantasy land.
At last City responded, Cherki’s low drive beating Haikin to his right. It came on 60 minutes, 120 seconds after Hauge’s strike. In the next 120, Rodri drew two bookings, both for similar cynical fouls to halt Bodø breaks, and off the captain went.
This was all breathless. Hauge hit the bar, then Høgh had another goal wiped out for offside before Foden, again a non-factor, was replaced by Omar Marmoush.
At the final whistle the delirious home support partied and City wandered off, schooled. The result and its buccaneering style is precisely why the sport can transfix.
