THOR blimey!
Leipzig boss Marco Rose nicknamed his former striker Erling Haaland after the God from Norse mythology.
But Josko Gvardiol not only kept him quiet – he also came up with a hammer blow of his own in the second half.
The Croatia World Cup star’s thunderous header cancelled out a brilliantly-worked first-half goal from Riyad Mahrez.
And it means Manchester City still have work to do in three weeks’ time if they are to claim their traditional place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Pep Guardiola will be frustrated as his team do not seem to have learned their lesson.
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Just like at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, they failed to kill the game off when they were completely on top and gave their opponents a chance.
You could say they ran out of energy at the hands of Red Bull.
Leipzig fans unfurled a banner saying ‘We’re on our way to Istanbul’ – with the final due to be played in the Turkish capital on June 10, they were not just here to make up the numbers.
And their recent form shows why they were confident with just one defeat in their last 20 matches dating back to early October.
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Rose’s men like to play on the counter-attack and let their opponents come on to them – yet it has proved to be highly effective.
It made for an interesting clash of styles with City – who love to have the ball – completely dominating the ball in the opening half hour.
Creating chances was another matter with their main man Kevin de Bruyne back home in Manchester due to illness.
Haaland – who has scored more against Leipzig than any other team with six goals in four games – did not get much of a look in.
An Ilkay Gundogan header from a Mahrez corner was straight at home keeper Janis Blaswich.
Rodri skied an effort high over the bar after a well-worked move while Mahrez fired a free-kick into the wall.
City were knocking on the door and just before the half-hour mark they finally ground down the home side to take the lead.
Xaver Schlager gave the ball away to Jack Grealish whose pass was tickled into the path of Mahrez by skipper Gundogan.
The Algerian burst into the box and finished coolly with that deadly left peg of his – sweeping his shot past Blaswich.
It was a 20th goal in this competition for Mahrez, only four other African players have achieved that total.
Having sat back for the whole game until then, Leipzig now had a dilemma and City had the opportunity to effectively kill off the tie.
Rodri got in at the back post from a corner but nobody was there to touch in his header back across goal – as it bounced just out of Haaland’s reach.
Then Grealish – who was once again catching the eye – cut in from the left and curled a 20-yard effort inches over with Blaswich nowhere near it.
It was as one-sided a first half as you are likely to see at this stage of the competition – with the 2020 semi-finalists barely getting a look in.
Although right on half-time, Leipzig finally had an effort on goal as former Chelsea man Timo Werner shot straight at Ederson.
Having reached the final in 2021 and come within seconds of doing the same last year, City look an accomplished side on the European stage now.
They were clearly in the mood to finish this tie as soon after the re-start, Gundogan crossed for Mahrez but his goalbound shot was blocked by Schlager.
Yet just like at Forest at the weekend, City had not turned their dominance into a substantial lead – and Leipzig finally came to life.
Half-time sub Benjamin Henrichs landed a header on the roof of the net and then fired wide when he was put through on goal by Dominik Szoboszlai.
Andre Silva twisted one way then the other to get in down the left but Ederson made himself big and got down to make the save.
Rose needed someone to finish these chances off and midway through the second half he threw on his main man Christopher Nkunku.
The French forward – who is expected to join Chelsea in the summer – scored a hat-trick when these teams met at the Etihad 18 months ago.
While committing more men to attack, Leipzig were vulnerable at the back and Grealish played through Haaland but he dragged his shot wide.
But the home side got the goal their efforts deserved as a corner was played short and Marcel Halstenberg sent over a delicious outswinging cross.
Ederson hesitated and was caught in no man’s land as Gvardiol climbed over the back of Ruben Dias to nod home the equaliser.
City could have re-taken the lead as Gundogan’s shot was pushed away by Blaswich – once again just out of the reach of the on-rushing Haaland.
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And they felt they should have had an injury-time penalty when Benjamin Henrichs put his hands up to block – no doubt Haaland would have been confident of burying the spot-kick.
But it was typical of the Norwegian’s evening. Even Norse Gods have off nights.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
