Real Madrid came from behind twice to beat Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) knockout round play-off at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.
Erling Haaland scored his first goal against Los Blancos in the 19th minute after Joško Gvardiol passed the ball into his path, giving City an early lead. In response, Vinícius saw his deflected shot crash against the crossbar.
Despite what appeared to be an evenly matched game, City maintained their lead in the first half. In the second half, Mbappé equalised in the 60th minute, despite not making a clean contact on Daniel Ceballos’ dinked pass, which caught Ederson off guard and led to a thrilling finish.
After teeing up the equaliser, Ceballos conceded a penalty for a challenge on Phil Foden, and Haaland sent Courtois the wrong way to restore the hosts’ lead in the 80th minute. Ederson’s save from Vinícius’ shot resulted in Brahim Díaz scoring against his former club in the 86th minute just two minutes after his introduction to tie the scoreline again.
Vinícius capitalized on the hosts’ indecision by breaking forward and poking the ball towards goal for Jude Bellingham to turn it home in the 90+2 minute, giving Real Madrid their fourth consecutive UCL win and an advantage to take back to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
City has only won one of their last six continental competitions and faces a daunting task in the second leg next week at the Santiago Bernabéu.
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