Man City beat Copenhagen in Champions League
Match report — Man City beat Copenhagen in Champions League last-16 first leg; Kevin De Bruyne gives visitors early lead.
Phil Foden struck an important injury-time goal to put Manchester City in control of their Champions League last-16 tie with a 3-1 victory over Copenhagen.
City extended their unbeaten run in Europe to 21 matches and will return to the Etihad on March 6 for the second leg, in between crucial Premier League fixtures against Manchester United and Liverpool, both live on Sky Sports, to continue their title defence.
Kevin De Bruyne struck the opener after just 10 minutes amid a dominant start which should have seen them further ahead before Jack Grealish went off injured and an Ederson mistake allowed Copenhagen’s Magnus Mattsson to equalise.
But Bernardo Silva struck in added time of the first half to restore their lead and after Erling Haaland had hit the crossbar, and been denied by goalkeeper Kamil Grabara, Foden netted in the 92nd minute to move City closer to the quarter-finals.
Player ratings:
Copenhagen: Grabara (7), McKenna (6), Vavro (6), Diks (5), Jelert (6), Mattsson (7), Jensen (6), Goncalves (6), Elyounoussi (6), Claesson (6), Achouri (6).
Subs: Cornelius (6), Hojlund (6), Sorensen (n/a), Larsson (n/a)
Man City: Ederson (5), Walker (7), Stones (7), Dias (7), Ake (7), Rodri (7), De Bruyne (8), Silva (8), Foden (8), Grealish (6), Haaland (7).
Subs: Doku (7), Nunes (n/a)
Player of the Match: Phil Foden
Man City could have scored twice in the opening 10 minutes before De Bruyne gave them the lead. The midfielder glanced a header wide when well positioned in the box before Nathan Ake hooked over from close range, but De Bruyne soon clinically fired across the goalkeeper and into the bottom left corner from a tight angle.
City had over 80 per cent possession in a dominant opening 20 minutes but were dealt a blow when Grealish was forced off and were then within inches of a second as Copenhagen centre-back Denis Vavro headed against his own crossbar.
Jack Grealish made a surprise return to the Man City line-up, starting his first game since January 7.
Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Kyle Walker also came in as Matheus Nunes, Manuel Akanji, Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku dropped to the bench.
Ederson had barely touched the ball until he gifted the hosts a way back into the game. The goalkeeper played a stray pass out to Mohamed Elyounoussi and the ricochet from his blocked shot was curled home from the edge of the box by debutant Mattsson.
Mattsson then volleyed over from inside the City area before being involved in a fortunate second for the visitors. In a tackle with De Bruyne, the ball ricocheted perfectly through to Silva, who flicked it past the goalkeeper.
City started the second half slowly, finding opportunities harder to come by with only De Bruyne’s shot from outside the area having to be tipped around the right post.
Ake had to be alert to clear Elyounoussi’s cross which substitute Andreas Cornelius was waiting to turn home before Grabara flung to his left to parry Jeremy Doku’s powerful effort.
England in line for fifth CL spot
Man City’s victory moved England into second, behind Italy, in the UEFA coefficient rankings, for the extra Champions League place next season.
RB Leipzig’s defeat to Real Madrid contributed to Germany dropping to third, with Spain in fourth.
City pushed hard for a third in the final 15 minutes, seeing Haaland denied on three occasions with a deflected header striking the crossbar before Grabara saved twice. The goalkeeper, though, was finally beaten again as De Bruyne pulled the ball back from the byline for Foden to slot.
