Haaland strikes late as Manchester City edge RB Leipzig 3-2 in five-goal Champions League thriller
Erling Haaland scored a 78th-minute winner as Manchester City twice surrendered the lead before beating RB Leipzig 3-2 at the Red Bull Arena, climbing to seventh in the Champions League league phase.
Erling Haaland scored a late winner as Manchester City survived two RB Leipzig comebacks to win a breathless Champions League match 3-2 at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday night, a result that lifted City to seventh in the league phase and ended the hosts’ perfect home record.
City had taken the lead in the 37th minute in fortunate fashion, when Nico O’Reilly’s low ball across goal was turned into his own net by Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba. It was a goal against the run of play in a first half in which the German side had looked the more threatening, and it gave the visitors something to hold on to at the break.
Leipzig levelled just after half-time. Ridle Baku’s cross-cum-shot found its way past Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 49th minute, and the home crowd, which had seen its team win all five previous home games this season without conceding, sensed another famous European night.
City responded quickly. In the 58th minute Enzo Fernández met Iliman Ndiaye’s pinpoint cross from the left with a powerful header, restoring the lead and briefly quieting the Red Bull Arena. But the advantage lasted only three minutes: Antonio Nusa, set up by Christopher Nkunku, fired a low left-footed shot across goal in the 61st minute to make it 2-2.
With the game swinging from end to end, it was Haaland, captaining City on the night, who settled it. In the 78th minute Elliot Anderson drove down the right flank and sent a superb low ball across the six-yard box, and Haaland slid in at the back post to turn it home. It was, by several counts, his 13th goal in just nine appearances against Leipzig, his 62nd in 61 Champions League matches, and his 14th of the season.
The closing minutes were almost as dramatic as what had gone before. Leipzig’s David Raum struck the crossbar with a free kick, Rayan Cherki hit the woodwork for City, and a late finish from Brajan Gruda was ruled out for offside, before Donnarumma made a further important save to preserve the win after four minutes of stoppage time.
The result was City’s third win in four Champions League games this season, and it moved them into the top eight of the league phase — the positions that qualify directly for the round of 16 without a play-off. For Leipzig, managed by former City defender Martin Demichelis, it was a first home defeat of the campaign and a reminder of how fine the margins are at this level, having twice fought back only to lose to a single moment of predatory finishing.
Haaland’s contribution underlined a familiar pattern in this fixture. He had been quiet for long spells, touching the ball only twice in the opening 23 minutes according to one analysis, and had seen a first-half effort saved by Leipzig goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt. Yet when the decisive chance arrived, his run and finish were exactly the kind of movement that has made him Leipzig’s tormentor in this competition.
There were also encouraging signs for City beyond the scoreline. Anderson’s surging run for the winner, Fernández’s header and Ndiaye’s delivery all pointed to a side finding attacking routes even on a night when it was second best for stretches, while Donnarumma’s saves at both ends of the second half kept the visitors in the contest when Leipzig pressed hardest.
City’s next Champions League match is at home to Napoli at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, 24 November. Leipzig, meanwhile, will have to regroup quickly: a performance that deserved more than defeat still left them with nothing, and in a league phase where every point shapes the race for the top eight, dropped points at home to a direct rival may prove costly.
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