LEIPZIG (GERMANY): Manchester City substitutes Julián Álvarez and Jérémy Doku combined for late goals to lead the title-holders to a 3-1 win at Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Álvarez fired the ball inside the far post in the 84th minute after Doku picked him out on the edge of the penalty area, and the Argentina star returned the favor for Doku to seal the win on a counterattack in injury time.
City had dominated from the start with Phil Foden twice going close before he finally rewarded the visitors’ pressure with the opener in the 25th. Bernardo Silva played Rico Lewis through on the right and the 18-year-old pulled the ball back for Foden to shoot inside the right post with his weaker right foot.
Erling Haaland, who was quiet early on, drew a save from Janis Blaswich before the break, when Leipzig forward Loïs Openda saw his shot deflected out for a corner. It was the home team’s first and only effort of the first half.
But Openda scored with the next after he was played through on the right by Yussuf Poulsen. Openda held off Manuel Akanji’s robust challenge and fired in off the bottom of the left post in the 48th.
While City maintained its grip on possession, Leipzig’s threat on counterattacks was more pronounced as the home team displayed more ambition going forward.
“We wanted to keep the game open for as long as possible. We wanted to have more ball possession ourselves to bring more calmness to the game,” said Leipzig defender Lukas Klostermann, who made a crucial block to deny Haaland late in the game. “We had good counterattacking situations in the second half. In the end it wasn’t enough.”
Álvarez settled the result when he produced his brilliant finish to unleash a dipping shot beyond Blaswich and inside the far post, then set up Doku to seal it.