Last Updated: February 23, 2023, 08:03 IST
Josko Gvardiol headed in the equaliser in the second half. (AP Photo)
Riyad Mahrez had put Manchester City forward however Josko Gvardiol scored in the second half to power a draw
RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol scored a second-half header, cancelling out Riyad Mahrez’s strike to earn a 1-1 with Manchester City in their Champions League final 16 conflict on Wednesday.
One of the breakout stars of the Qatar World Cup because the cornerstone of Croatia’s miserly defence, Gvardiol confirmed his attacking aptitude, launching himself above the City defence to head in the equaliser in the seventieth minute.
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City took the lead after 27 minutes via Mahrez and appeared on target for a snug away win however their fluency abandoned them after the interval in the primary leg tie.
The residence aspect, who’ve solely misplaced as soon as in their previous 20 video games, discovered their zip in the second half and appeared the workforce more than likely to head to the Etihad for the return leg with a victory below their belt.
City’s star striker Erling Haaland suffered for a lack of service, with the Norwegian clearly lacking sick midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.
City dominated possession in trademark trend for the primary quarter of the match, however failed to carve out any alternatives towards a well-drilled and structured residence aspect.
“At the tip, we have been a little nervous, the coach instructed us to relax, there are 90 minutes left to play,” said Mahrez.
Leipzig coach Marco Rose added: “Two very, very different halves. We just didn’t happen in the first half, just chased the ball, were very bad when we had it. The second was quite different, we were better with the ball, won it back better and played how we had envisioned to play.”
The breakthrough got here in the twenty seventh minute, when City midfielder Jack Grealish took benefit of a sloppy go from Xaver Schlager, pouncing with threading a vertical ball goalwards.
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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 minimize a shot previous the fingertips of ‘keeper Janis Blaswich and into the net.
Rodri went close to doubling City’s lead simply three minutes later however put his header simply large.
Former Chelsea striker Timo Werner had half a likelihood 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 searching for further penetration.
The new man went shut to scoring an equaliser twice in the house of two minutes early in 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 in the 66th minute got here in the course of the residence aspect’s finest interval of the sport and gave them a right away increase, striker Andre Silva forcing a rushed save from Ederson a minute later.
Gvardiol snuffed out an Haaland counter assault and received the house aspect on the scoreboard quickly after, climbing a metre greater than the City defence to head in the equaliser from a Marcel Halstenberg nook.
Man City held on as Leipzig looked for a winner, that means each groups head to Manchester on an equal footing forward of the return fixture on March 14.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed)
