Manchester City need two late goals to see off stubborn Leipzig
MATCHWINNERS: Manchester City's Julian Alvarez celebrates with Jeremy Doku after scoring their side's second goal of the game. Pic: Nick Potts/PA Wire
Julian Alvarez’s growing importance to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City was showcased in spectacular fashion in Germany Wednesday night with his 85th minute winner lifting his team’s recent malaise.
The game appeared to be heading for a draw when his fellow substitute Jeremy Doku found him in space and the Argentinian World Cup winner, eschewing the need for back-lift, sent a magnificent strike soaring into the top corner of the Leipzig goal from 18 yards.
The pair combined again, in the 91st minute, when Alvarez went clear and squared for Doku to round off the win on the counter-attack.
With Kevin De Bruyne still out injured for many weeks, Alvarez has grown in stature this season and was sorely needed here after a half of complete City mastery, but only one goal, was quickly undone after the restart when, from their first meaningful attack, the Germans equalised on 48 minutes.
It was an alarming goal for Guardiola’s defence to concede, as a simple through ball from Yussuf Poulsen cut gaps through their lines and sent Lois Openda racing clear.
The Belgian finished brilliantly, as he held off Manuel Akanji, rolling a right-footed finish in off the far post.
And, just like that, a gentle stroll in the German autumn air, ahead of one of the gigantic fixtures of the Premier League season on Sunday, had become a world of pain for City.
They at least responded: Erling Haaland sliding in and putting Phil Foden’s cross over; Foden hitting the bar from an audacious free-kick, and Haaland drawing a save out of Janis Blaswich, from 18 yards.
But how had it come to this for the Champions League holders? For the first 45 minutes, the terrace refrain of “can we play you every week” seemed appropriate, given that City were looking to end a run of two consecutive defeats against a team that they humiliated 7-0 in this competition last season.
And, sure enough, it took just 25 minutes of utter City domination for Foden to get what looked like being a comfortable evening underway, although it was his young team-mate Rico Lewis who was dominating proceedings.
The full-back was pushed into midfield, alongside Rodri who has been suspended for City’s last two defeats and will complete his current three-match ban in the big weekend trip to Arsenal.
And here, as City faced Leipzig for a third consecutive season, Lewis, a full-back by trade, was staking his claim to start that huge clash at the Emirates in midfield.
It was Lewis’s cross, from a clever Bernardo Silva pass, that picked out Foden, 12 yards from goal, for the England international to finish spectacularly with a shot that bounced into the Leipzig goal.
There should have been more, not least after 14 minutes, when Silva somehow mis-kicked in front of an open net at the far-post after Foden had driven the ball across goal.
A Silva shot was blocked, with a suspicion of handball, Foden sliced a shot wide and, straight after the goal, another Foden effort struck his team-mate Haaland.
Guardiola’s side has not been firing on all cylinders so far, this season, however, with Haaland in particular short of last term’s treble-winning form. Just after the half hour, the Norwegian was finally played in by Foden but could only steer his shot across the face of goal from a very tough angle.
All of which will have made Guardiola unnecessarily nervy as his side toiled to strangle the resistance out of a Leipzig side that was without its best attacking player, the injured Dani Elmo and those nerves were further tested after the equaliser.
Guardiola, the master tactician, used his bench brilliantly but Haaland’s frustrating night continued into the 83rd minute, when David Raum's superb saving tackle denied what looked a certain goal.
Blaswich 6; Klostermann 6, Simakan 6, Lukeba 6, Raum 7; Schlager 7, Seiwald 6 (Haidara 85); Xavi 8, Forsberg 7 (Sesko 70, 6); Openda 7 (Werner 70, 6), Poulsen 7 (Baumgartner 75, 6).
Ederson 6, Walker 6, Akanji 5 (Doku 72, 7), Dias 5, Gvardiol 6; Lewis 9, Rodri 7; Silva 6 (Nunes 87), Foden 7 (Alvarez 79, 8), Grealish 5 (Ake 72, 5); Haaland 5.
A Dias (Portugal) 7.
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