RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol scored a second-half header, cancelling out Riyad Mahrez’s strike to earn a 1-1 draw with Manchester City of their Champions League final 16 conflict on Wednesday.
One of the breakout stars of the Qatar World Cup, Gvardiol confirmed his attacking aptitude, launching himself above the City defence to move within the equaliser within the seventieth minute.
City took the lead after 27 minutes via Mahrez and appeared heading in the right direction for a cushty away win however its fluency abandoned it after the interval within the first leg tie.
The dwelling facet, which has solely misplaced as soon as in its previous 20 video games, discovered its zip within the second half and appeared the crew more than likely to move to the Etihad for the return leg with a victory beneath its belt.
City’s star striker Erling Haaland suffered for a scarcity of service, with the Norwegian clearly lacking midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.
City dominated possession in trademark trend for the primary quarter of the match, however didn’t carve out any alternatives in opposition to a well-drilled and structured dwelling facet.
The breakthrough got here within the twenty seventh minute, when City midfielder Jack Grealish took benefit of a sloppy cross from Xaver Schlager, pouncing by threading a vertical ball via the center.
City captain Ilkay Gundogan attracted the eye of the Leipzig defence however let the ball run via his legs into the trail of Mahrez, who reduce a shot previous the keeper Janis Blaswich and into the online.
Rodri went near doubling City’s lead simply three minutes later however put his header simply extensive.
Former Chelsea striker Timo Werner had half an opportunity in first-half damage time, however waited too lengthy to unleash a shot and his deflected effort was simply claimed by Ederson.
Leipzig swapped out wing backs Lukas Klostermann and Benjamin Henrichs at halftime in search of further penetration.
The new man went near scoring an equaliser twice within the house of two minutes early within the second half, first via a looping header and second when he shanked a close-range try when one-on-one with Ederson.
The introduction of Christopher Nkunku within the 66th minute got here in the course of the dwelling facet’s greatest interval of the sport and gave them a direct increase, with striker Andre Silva forcing a rushed save from Ederson a minute later.
Gvardiol snuffed out a Haaland counter assault and received the house facet on the scoreboard quickly after, climbing a metre increased than the City defence to move within the equaliser from a Marcel Halstenberg nook.
Man City held on as Leipzig looked for a winner, which means each groups head to Manchester on an equal footing forward of the return fixture on March 14.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com