‘Inevitable!’ Real Madrid Stun Man City With Late Comeback at Ethiad (Stats & Highlight)

OwelekeTV — Jude Bellingham scored a 92nd-minute winning goal as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Manchester City in the Champions League.

Erling Haaland gave the Premier League champions the lead either side of half-time, but he and his team-mates threw away another lead late on.

Haaland had looked to have won the game at the Etihad Stadium from the penalty spot late on with his second of the night, restoring the lead after Kylian Mbappe had levelled on the hour with a mis-hit volley but City collapsed in the final moments.

Brahim came off the bench to get the second against his former club and, in the second minute of three added on, Jude Bellingham was on hand to poke in from close range to give the Champions League holders a dramatic win. Real Madrid take a 3-2 lead into next Wednesday’s second leg at the Bernabeu.

Madrid will feel they created more than enough to win it but the manner of the result was tough on Pep Guardiola’s side and leaves them with much to do against the European champions when they meet in the Bernabeu for a place in the last 16.

It fell apart

It was a thrilling game. Madrid piled on the pressure early on. Vinicius, greeted with a banner of Rodri kissing the Ballon d’Or and booed throughout, was taken down in the box by Ederson only for the offside flag to deny him. Nathan Ake produced a big block.

And then, enter Haaland. It was a gorgeous pass by Jack Grealish, just about his final act before going off injured. He found Josko Gvardiol who nodded down for Haaland to finish. There was a long wait for VAR but the goal stood. City’s confidence flooded back.

There was still time for Vinicius and Manuel Akanji both to hit the frame of the goal before the break, Haaland himself immediately after it. City were in a heavyweight game, the question was always going to be whether they would be able to sustain it.

Mbappe’s equaliser, a complete mis-hit, shinning the ball into the net with Ederson wrong-footed, was unfortunate. But City responded again thanks to Foden’s quick feet and Haaland’s coolness. It will hurt that they squandered the lead the second time.

Paul Merson:

“It was a case of two glaring errors from Man City.

“First, Ederson has the ball in his hands and City are 2-1 up. He tries to side volley a goal kick and it goes horribly wrong and goes straight to Bellingham.

“He picks the right pass to Vinicius and his shot bounces off Ederson before Brahim Diaz scores the rebound, I think the Man City goalkeeper should do much better.

“Vinicius then just gets in front of Rico Lewis and he’s away on goal. he lobs it over the goalkeeper and the ball is going horribly wide but Jude Bellingham follows it up and scores.

“The old Man City used to play a game of 90 to 95 minutes every week. They just can’t seem to do it now.

“I don’t know what it is, whether they just switch off or whether it is just an ageing team. The older you get, the more tired you get and if you get tired the more mistakes you make.

“They just seemed to switch off.

“They did really well for a lot of the game. Of course, they rode their luck at times as you do against a quality side like Real Madrid.

“But they will be so disappointed. We are not even in the middle of February yet and Man City are just playing for the FA Cup.

“I don’t give them a chance in the second leg. I’ve seen enough in Real Madrid to know they can open up Man City like a knife through butter.”

Guardiola:

“It’s not full-time. Today was tight, they have chances, but we took the game and played really good with the ball. In many games this season we’ve given goals away, it’s happened many times and that’s why it’s difficult.

“We talk about that. But how? We have to know there are mistakes in certain areas, it’s difficult to manage. It’s happened many times. It’s not about specific players, there are many situations we have to read and we are not able to do it.

“Players take decisions in the moment and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s happened many, many times. So reflect, think, maybe in the future it won’t happen. It is what it is. Today was tight, I’m quite honest with myself, in the last minute we arrive with a good result but we couldn’t keep it.”

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