Manchester City has come out of the first leg of the eighth final against Leipzig without a bonus. City – without Kevin De Bruyne – took the lead through Mahrez, but saw Gvardiol equalize twenty minutes before the end.
RB Leipzig – Manchester City in a nutshell
- Key moment: Immediately after the break, Schlager clears a goal by Mahrez off the line. City does not come to 0-2, otherwise the game would have been played.
- Man of the Mach: Josko Gvardiol was already one of the absolute stars at the World Cup and tonight he didn’t let himself be caught making a mistake in the back on the biggest stage. The Croatian defender also showed his scoring ability against City with his header goal.
- Remarkable: For the first time in his CL career with Manchester City, Pep Guardiola did not make any substitutions tonight. With Foden and Alvarez, there was still a lot of (offensive) talent on the bench.
City dominates before the break
Even without De Bruyne, who had stayed in Manchester sick, City dominated as we are used to them in the first half.
Yet it took fifteen minutes before it could be really dangerous. Dias headed a corner from Mahrez too centrally into the hands of Blaswich.
Not much later it was Rodri’s turn, but his shot was not well placed.
Postponement, but no adjustment for the visitors, who benefited from Schlager’s stupid loss of possession just before the half hour mark. Mahrez neatly unwrapped the present with his left hand.
Rodri and Grealish also came close to scoring before half-time, but it remained 0-1. And Leipzig? That acted beyond recognition and did not decorate a single chance worthy of the name in the first 45 minutes.
Leizpig shows a different face in the second half
With Henrichs in the team in place of the pale Klostermann, Leipzig tapped out of a completely different vein after the break.
The first chance was still for City (Schlager saved the line), but then the substitute came close twice. First with a dangerous header, then he kicked wide.
Just after the hour, André Silva unleashed a great individual action. He couldn’t get past Ederson face-to-face, who was well on target.
Immediately afterwards Rose brought the insecure Nkunku between the lines and his arrival inspired Leipzig to make it 1-1. First, a icicle from Szoboszlai was whipped out of the square by Ederson, after which Gvardiol equalized with his head on the corner that followed.
The deserved equalizer was not followed up and it was City that came closest to victory. Blaswich made an excellent save on a shot from Gundogan.
It remained 1-1 and Guardiola, who did not change, seemed surprisingly satisfied with that.
