Manchester City produced a fine European performance at the Etihad, but will only take a single goal lead into the second leg after winning a seven-goal thriller against Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid. City took a two-goal lead on threeseparate occasions in the game, only for Real to somehow reduce it to a single goal margin all three times.
Pep Guardiola’s men were 2-0 up within 11 minutes thanks to goals from Kevin de Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus and could have killed off the tie by 30 minutes had Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez taken their respective chances. Unfortunately, they didn’t, and Karim Benzema’s expert finish on 33 minutes saw the home side take a narrow 2-1 lead into the break.
Foden missed another easy chance after the interval before finally heading them 3-1 ahead in the 53rd minute. City, missing Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker, started with John Stones at right back before substituting him late in the first half for Fernandinho. However, the veteran Brazilian’s lack of pace was exposed by Vinicius Jr for Real’s second goal.
Bernardo Silva’s stunner put City 4-2 up before defender Aymeric Laporte was penalized eight minutes from time for handball, and Benzema stepped up to convert the resultant spot kick to make it 4-3 and keep Real in the tie ahead of the return leg at the Bernabeu
