At the Etihad Stadium, Erling Haaland broke the record for most goals scored in the Champions League as Manchester City overcame a two-goal deficit to win an exciting match against RB Leipzig.
The forward from Norway is the man who has scored 40 goals in the competition the quickest, having done it in just 35 games, which is 10 less than the previous record-holder, Ruud van Nistelrooy.
In addition, his goal spurred a comeback victory that guaranteed City, who had advanced to the round of 16, first place in Group G with one match remaining.
It appeared as though their illustrious 28-game home European unbeaten record may be ended for an uneasy 40 minutes.
However, City were changed as Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez entered the game in the second half.
After Doku’s running unbalanced Leipzig’s defenders, Alvarez sent Haaland through to cut the lead in half in a matter of seconds. Phil Foden then took advantage of the space he created after collecting an inside pass from Josko Gvardiol to tie the score.
After Foden produced the cross, Alvarez finished the comeback three minutes from time by steadiing himself eight yards out and finishing precisely in the corner.
The loss was painful for Belgian striker Lois Openda, who signed with Leipzig in July for a club record sum that might have reached 45 million euros (£38.95 million).
And he demonstrated his talent with a superb double in the first half that gave the visitors hope for an unexpected victory at the location where they were defeated 7-0 in the previous season’s playoff round.
Gvardiol must have remembered unpleasant things from the first half. In the pregame build-up, the Croatian player recalled being a member of the Leipzig team that lost a lopsided last-16 match in this stadium earlier this year by a score of seven goals.
After spending £77 million to go between the clubs in August, Gvardiol may have expected a better outcome this time.
In the end, it was, but only after a difficult first half. Even though Ruben Dias should have taken the blame for giving Leipzig’s second goal away when he surged into a tackle by the halfway line, Openda was the one who stepped inside to drive his low shot past Stefan Ortega.
Nearby, Pep Guardiola, the manager of City, indicated his displeasure with a customary dismissive sweep of his arms.
That was the same response that had been given to Openda’s opening. That time, Manuel Akanji attempted to stop the striker from getting to a ball that was bouncing on the halfway line. Despite accomplishing his goal, the Swiss defender could not anticipate that his opponent would just spin off of him and onto the loose ball, which he skillfully tucked into the corner.
Before the half, Rico Lewis and Haaland both drove over from central positions. Haaland’s particularly forceful endeavour indicated that he was dissatisfied with the current situation.
It was not going to endure.
Rather, Haaland increased his campaign total to 19 across all contests. Thus, in less than a season and a half, he now has 71.
What was going to happen was inevitable once the Norwegian scored.
When the draw for the round of 16 is made next month, City will undoubtedly play their second leg at home, and few will contest their prospects of being the first English team to successfully defend the competition that was once known as the European Cup since Nottingham Forest in 1980.
BBC
