9 hours ago
4
Manchester City secured a huge Champions League win as they came from behind to beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu.
Manchester City are back in control of their Champions League destiny after coming from behind to beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu and move back into the top eight of the league phase table.
City went behind just before the half-hour when Real found too much space to work the ball from left to right, with Jude Bellingham's pass finding Rodrygo, who slammed a low shot beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The visitors had been poor until that point but levelled when Thibaut Courtois could only push Josko Gvardiol's header from a corner into the path of Nico O'Reilly, who had a simple finish. The game turned two minutes before the break, when Erling Haaland converted a penalty after he had been fouled by Antonio Rudiger. Here's how we rated the players.
Gianluigi Donnarumma: Couldn't do much with the powerfully struck shot for the goal but was in no man's land for a late corner. Didn't have many saves to make. 6
Matheus Nunes: Started off shakily against Vinicius and relieved to see early penalty decision overturned. Beaten on the outside a couple of times but recovered well. 6
Ruben Dias: Best of the defenders but City would have been relieved to see Mbappe stay on the bench all night. Huge late block from Bellingham. 7
Josko Gvardiol: Caught on the ball for the penalty that wasn't in the kind of sloppy moment he displays every now and again. Settled down after that. 6
Nico O'Reilly: Could probably have done more to stop Rodrygo's goal but not alone in that regard. Outstanding apart from that. Strong running down the left and defensively sound. 8
Nico Gonzalez: A bit of a shaky start but felt like he really grew into the game and his steady passing helped City control the game for large parts of the second half. 7
Bernardo Silva: Not his best game. Sloppy in the build-up to the overturned penalty and overpowered too easily by Carreras to start the move for Rodrygo's first-half goal. 6
Phil Foden: Quiet by his recent standards and struggled to really get a foothold in the contest and show his quality. 6
Rayan Cherki: Quiet for half an hour but strutted his stuff after sending the corner in for O'Reilly's goal. Some majestic moments in the second period and looked like he belongs on this stage. 8
Jeremy Doku: Some dangerous runs and had so much space to attack at times, but his decision making and final ball was as bad as it's been all season. 6
Erling Haaland: Took his penalty well and was clever in making it clear how clumsy Rudiger was in fouling him. A little quiet aside from that and a brave call to take him off. 7
Substitutes
Tijjani Reijnders: Helped to try and lock the game down. 6
Savinho: Won a free-kick with a good late run and a lively cameo 7
Omar Marmoush: Barely involved as City looked to hold on. 6
Nathan Ake: Little time to make an impact. 6
Subs not used: Trafford, Bettinelli, Khusanov, Ait-Nouri, Lewis, Bobb
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