Leipzig 2-3 Manchester City: Baku 49, Nusa 61; Lukeba 37 og, Fernandez 58, Haaland 78
When Manchester City were floundering, it was again Erling Haaland who stepped up to the rescue. Enzo Maresca’s side had struggled to find consistency in recent weeks, but their visit to RB Leipzig offered a chance to put their domestic troubles behind them.
After consecutive Premier League defeats against Aston Villa and Brighton, victory here was important for City, but it almost didn’t happen with the attacking play stiff, the defence struggling, and Gianluigi Donnarumma once again making mistakes so costly you think a new goalkeeper might soon be on City’s agenda.
Haaland was relatively quiet for much of the evening, as he always is, but the Norwegian striker needed only one clear chance, as he always does, to make the difference. With 12 minutes to go and the game level at 2-2, Elliot Anderson sent a low cross into the penalty area and Haaland appeared at the far post to slide the ball home. So City could withdraw to ponder on their problems with at least a victory in the bag.
Maresca made four changes from the defeat against Brighton, with Abdukodir Khusanov preferred to Ruben Dias in defence. In his absence, Haaland wore the captain’s armband.
Leipzig started with greater confidence and immediately tested Donnarumma. Antonio Nusa forced the goalkeeper into an awkward save, and Christoph Baumgartner came close with a curling effort from distance.
City struggled to control the game. Phil Foden lost possession in dangerous areas, and Leipzig continued to find space around the visitors’ defence.
The home side looked more likely to score before City eventually found a breakthrough. Rayan Cherki sent a fine pass towards Nico O’Reilly, whose cross caused confusion in the Leipzig defence. Castello Lukeba failed to deal with the ball and turned it into his own net.
City almost doubled their advantage soon afterwards. O’Reilly delivered another dangerous cross, but Haaland could not make proper contact with his header. The left-back then missed a further opportunity after a pass from Iliman Ndiaye.
Leipzig came out strongly after the break and forced City back towards their own goal. Donnarumma made another save from Nusa, but his evening took a turn for the worse when Ridle Baku equalised.
The Leipzig defender broke forward and reached the byline before firing towards goal, and Donnarumma was caught out as the ball squeezed past him at the near post.
City responded through Enzo Fernandez, who headed home a superb cross from Ndiaye. The visitors had regained the lead, but their defensive problems were far from over.
Leipzig found another equaliser when Nusa finished a move involving Christopher Nkunku. The forward took advantage of City’s lagging defence and fired across Donnarumma to make it 2-2. The visitors needed a moment of quality. It soon came from Anderson and Haaland.
