Josko Gvardiol’s goal secured a draw for RB Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena (Picture: Getty)
Josko Gvardiol’s powerful header secured a 1-1 draw for RB Leipzig against Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash.
Pep Guardiola’s side were utterly dominant in the first half but the German side came to life after the restart and deservedly avoided defeat at the Red Bull Arena.
City went into the clash with an average of 2.6 goals per game in their previous 17 matches against Bundesliga sides but could only score once via Riyad Mahrez.
The result means it is all to play for when the sides meet for the second leg at the Etihad on March 14.
Man City dominated the early possession with some impressive passing and Mahrez opened the scoring on 27 minutes with City rewarded for their pressing.
Jack Grealish nicked the ball following a sloppy pass from Xaver Schlager – and after a flick from Ilkay Gundogan – it allowed Mahrezl to unleash a strong strike past Blaswich for the lead.
Erling Haaland almost doubled City’s advantage moments later but missed a tap-in opportunity after Rodri headed the ball back across the six-yard box following a corner.
There were three more chances for City before half-time as Grealish cut inside and fired a shot wide, Rodri unable to get a header on target from a corner and a Leipzig block denying Halaand another tap-in from Gundogan’s low ball from the left.
The German side registered their first shot of the game just before the whistle blew but former Chelsea striker Timo Werner could only curl his shot straight at City goalkeeper Ederson.
Leipzig vastly improved and had two massive chances to equalise in the 10 minutes after the restart, both via right-back Benjamin Henrichs, who fired a header just over the crossbar from 15 yards out and then had plenty of space with just Ederson to beat but his shot from 12 yards dragged wide.
Ederson was then forced to dive out and push away Werner’s low cross before another chance fell to Leipzig just after the hour mark as the City goalkeeper denied Andre Silva after the Portugal international skillfully got past two defenders down the left as Guardiola became visibly frustrated on the touchline.
Haaland blew another chance and Leipzig then deservedly grabbed the equaliser on 70 minutes after Ederson’s save from a brilliant Dominik Szoboszlai 30-yard shot resulted in a corner as defender Gvardiol – linked with a move to the Premier League – rose above Dias to fire his header past the Brazilian ‘keeper.
City had the chance to win it with 15 minutes to play but Blaswich produced a massive save to stop an effort from Gundogan as Haaland was unable to bundle home the rebound as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
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All to play for in the second leg…
