Manchester City overcame a first-half deficit and a late Borussia Dortmund goal on Wednesday to overcome Dortmund 2-1 and move within a win of the Champions League quarterfinals. Haaland’s ghost lingers over Dortmund’s comeback loss to Man City.
Haaland haunts Borussia
Despite being kept relatively quiet, the Norwegian scored with six minutes remaining to go, using his telescopic left leg to prod home the game-winner.
Haaland has scored 13 goals in eight appearances for City after they paid his buyout fee to leave German powerhouses Bayern Munich for $58 million (£51 million).
Borussia was up thanks to Jude Bellingham:
After 11 minutes of the second half, Borussia was up thanks to Jude Bellingham. In contrast, a triple substitution roused City from their lethargy, which resulted in two goals in four minutes that reversed the tide of the game in favor of City.
Alexander Meyer’s poor goalkeeping allowed John Stones to tie the game with a piledriver from outside the box. The spotlight then shifted to Haaland, who stole the show by extending to his far post to meet Joao Cancelo‘s cross and putting it past Meyer. Due to Dortmund’s loss and FC Copenhagen and Sevilla’s scoreless tie in Copenhagen, City now leads Group G with three points.
The first half was relatively quiet:
Bellingham said the night before the game that he had no idea how to defend against the Norwegian footballer. The first half was relatively quiet at the goal because the Germans did a superb job of stifling the service to their former star striker. Once the second half finally started, the visitors were the ones to provide the first real danger. Inside the penalty area, Marco Reus was set up by a swift counterattack, and he brushed aside fellow ex-Borussia Dortmund player Manuel Akanji before bending a shot well wide of the far post.
City did not respond to the wake-up call, and four minutes later Dortmund scored the game-winning goal. Multiple Premier League clubs, including City, Manchester United, and Liverpool, have been linked to a move for Bellingham.
The England international wasted no time Tuesday shutting down rumors about his future, and he may have increased his price tag by a few million with a superbly timed run to head in Reus’ cross.
When this happened, Guardiola made three quick substitutions: Bernardo Silva for Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden for Phil Foden, and Julian Alvarez for Julian Alvarez to offer more finesse in the final third.
Foden made a calculated run into the box and delivered a low cross, but Mats Hummels made a wonderful last-ditch interception to deny the Norwegian footballer the opportunity he had been waiting for all game. Stones scored his first Champions League goal since 2017 to pull City even, and it came from outside the box.
However, Haaland was not to be denied the spotlight, as City’s towering number nine pounced on Cancelo’s ingenious cross with the outside of his right foot, raising his foot to head height to flick the ball home.
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