RB Leipzig 1, Manchester City 3
Manchester City scored late goals through to secure a confidence building Champions League victory at RB Leipzig.
Embed from Getty ImagesPhil Foden scored and also hit the woodwork as City needed goals from Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku to finish off their hosts who had an early equaliser through Lois Openda.
After two consecutive domestic defeats City boss Pep Guardiola opted for five changes to get more control in midfield.
Rodri, suspended for the two previous domestic games, was free to return to the side as he joined Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis, Bernardo Silva, and Jack Grealish in a side that was full of players who looked after the ball.
Nathan Ake, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku, and Julian Alvarez, who had played a lot recently, were the players to step down and they joined John Stones on the bench as City’s injury worries alleviated themselves a bit.
Foden was given the role of supporting Erling Haaland and he had five shots out of City’s 10 in a dominant first half.
Erling Haaland was starved of service and didn’t look like scoring against his former club despite having a couple of half chances.
City dominated the early exchanges and it was no surprise when they took with lead with Foden converting one of the chances that came his way after Rico Lewis exchanged passes with Bernardo Silva before finding the England man in space for his second goal of the season.
The home side were level soon after the break after Yussuf Poulsen fed Lois Openda who held off Manuel Akanji to score past Ederson with 48 minutes gone – their first shot on target in the game after Grealish lost the ball with a loose pass.
Foden’s cross was too strong for Haaland as City tried to retake the lead while Foden rattled the crossbar with an unexpected curling effort which came off post and crossbar.
Julian Alvarez came off the bench to replace Foden and went on to put City back in the lead with his sixth goal of the season after fellow sub Jeremy Doku fed him the ball and the Argentine curled a great finish in with 6 minutes to spare.
And Alvarez returned the favour in injury time to allow Doku to score his second goal for City as Pep Guardiola chalked up his 103rd win in the Champions League as a manager – leapfrogging Sir Alex Ferguson into second place behind Carlo Ancelotti who has 109 wins.