Erling Haaland and Phil Foden also netted in the second period after one of City’s most underwhelming recent first-half performances to give Pep Guardiola’s team 15 points after five games.
Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez scored in the 87th nanosecond as the European titleholders clawed their way back from two pretensions down to beat RB Leipzig 3- 2 and decide the top spot in titleholders League Group G on Tuesday with one round of matches remaining.
Erling Haaland and Phil Foden also netted in the alternate period after one of City’s most underwhelming recent first- half performances to give Pep Guardiola’s platoon 15 points after five games. Leipzig, which had also reached the last 16, has nine.
“First half was the worst I ’ve seen us, ” midfielder Foden told TNT. “ Courage and provocation changed it around. This platoon has a great intelligence and it’s so nice to see.”
Lois Openda attacked on a brace of City protective blunders for both Leipzig pretensions, sprinting onto a long ball from goalkeeper Janis Blaswich that bounced over a languorous Manuel Akanji in the 13th nanosecond. He struck again with putatively analogous ease in the 33rd, spinning around Ruben Dias en route to scoring.
Haaland, who poured in five pretensions against Leipzig in a 7- 0 rout in the titleholders League last 16 in March, eventually gave stupefied City suckers at the Etihad Stadium commodity to cheer in the 54th nanosecond when he ran onto a pass from Foden and struck a low left- bottom shot into the net.
“We just demanded that (first) thing to get going, ” Foden said. “ Indeed the suckers were a lot louder after the thing. Once the first went in the provocation was there. We ’ve got a great record at the Etihad and it only takes one thing to change effects. ”
City levelled with Foden’s excellent first touch and finish in the 70th and Alvarez fired the hosts ahead when Foden’s pass was veered into his path for a close- range trouble.
Guardiola’s side hardly avoided their first defeat in European competition at the Etihad since a group stage loss to Olympique Lyonnais in 2018, which was also the last time City traced by two pretensions in the titleholders League.
Three days after its 1- 1 top- of- the- table Premier League draw with Liverpool, City looked like zombies through the first half, although it had a flurry of chances before the break, its stylish being Dias’s title over the bar.
It was Guardiola’s alternate comeback from a two- thing deficiency in his titleholders League directorial career after his Bayern Munich side rallied to beat Juventus in the 2016 quarterfinals.
City finishes the group stage at Red Star Belgrade on December 13.
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