Riyad Mahrez gave Man City the lead with a fine 27th-minute effort before Josko Gvardiol's towering header leveled the score, 20 minutes from time.
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Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie at Red Bull Arena Leipzig on Wednesday night. Pep Guardiola’s side traveled to Germany without three key senior players- Kevin de Bruyne, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte. Playmaker De Bruyne’s absence seemed to have a huge impact as their star striker Erling Haaland suffered for a lack of service. Although Man City managed to take the lead through Riyad Mahrez inside the opening 27 minutes, the game was turned on its head in the second period. After the break, the hosts came out all guns blazing but they had only Josko Gvardiol’s equaliser to show for an impressive second half performance.
All to play for in Manchester ⚖️#UCL pic.twitter.com/OsYDlG1zS0
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 22, 2023
City unsurprisingly looked in control of the match in the first period and the hosts were sitting back, trying to maintain their defensive shape. Guardiola’ side broke the deadlock three minutes before the half-hour mark, thanks to Mahrez’s fine finish after Jack Grealish took advantage of a sloppy pass from Leipzig midfielder Xaver Schlagger. It was the Algerian attacker’s 11th goal for Man City across all competitions this season. Rodri went close to doubling the lead three minutes later but his header went wide.
Leipzig manager Marco Rose decided to swap wing backs Lukas Klostermann and Benjamin Henrichs at half time. The new man went close to scoring an equaliser twice in the space of two minutes early in the second half, but failed to find the back of the net. Christopher Nkunku, who has 16 goals to his name across all competitions for Leipzig this season, came in for Emile Forsbeg in the 66th-minute, and the Frenchman’s introduction gave the Bundesliga outfit an immediate boost. Striker Andre Silva forced a save from the visiting goalkeeper Ederson a minute later, before Gvadiol leveled the score 20 minutes from time. The Croatian defender, who caught the eye of the world with his stunning performances during the Qatar World Cup, climbed a meter higher than the City defence to head home from Marcel Halstenberg’s cross.
Two decisions that weren’t even looked at in the Manchester City game … pic.twitter.com/ebFwkG59oo
— 17 (@DxBruyneSZN) February 22, 2023
See you in three weeks, @ManCity & @ErlingHaaland!#UCL #RBLMCI pic.twitter.com/MRCkxflhzC
— RB Leipzig (@RBLeipzig) February 23, 2023
🚨 Leipzig coach Marco Rose: “Joško Gvardiol will be a RB Leipzig player next season as well. I am the coach and I am asking for that”. 🇭🇷 #UCL
“He is happy here. He said he wants to play in the Premier League, but he didn’t say when!”, told @ArilaSos. pic.twitter.com/jnJj3wE9gu
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 22, 2023
Guardiola: “I saw the players, they were heads down. I said: why are your heads down, be heads up, it was really good the way you play”. 🔵 #MCFC @SamLee
“Haaland? He’s 100% adapted to Man City. We need to find him more in the game, and get the passes to him…”. pic.twitter.com/7Jq7oew59g
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 22, 2023
